It's What I Want
by Ryoko Blue
Summary: Life for Akane had not gone the way she hoped and a chance for a new life fell into her lap and she took it, leaving Japan all together. It is now ten years later and Akane is back in Tokyo filming a movie, will she want her old life back or will stardom
1. Farewell

Summary: Life for Akane had not gone the way she hoped and a chance for a new life fell into her lap and she took it, leaving Japan all together. It is now ten years later and Akane is back in Tokyo filming a movie, will she want her old life back or will stardom come between her and what she really wants. This story will revolve around the ten years of the Ranma cast's lives.

Disclaimer: Yeah right, if Ranma ½ were mine, then well I would be filthy stinking rich, wouldn't I?

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It's What I Want

Episode 1—Farewell

Today was Akane Tendou's eighteenth birthday; she took a glance around her room as she got dressed in her school uniform. Today she knew was going to be the same as every day. Wake up, get dressed, take care of personal bathroom duties, hurry down the stairs for breakfast, argue and fight with Ranma and then leave for school, argue a bit with Ranma on the way to school, Shampoo or Ukyou comes along and glomps Ranma and Akane sends him airborne. Yep, another typical day was in store for her. She sighed and then sat down on the side of her bed. Why couldn't things ever change? Why couldn't Ranma stand up to those other girls and tell them off? Why wouldn't he tell her if he really liked her or not? If he didn't like her, there was no sense in this ridiculous engagement their parents forced upon them. She hoped it wasn't the latter.

She heard Kasumi's voice calling from downstairs, "Akane, breakfast is ready."

Akane opened the door and yelled, "I'll be right down Kasumi." She straightened her uniform and then grabbed her school satchel from off her desk and made her way down stairs for breakfast. While heading for the tea room she could hear Ranma and Genma fighting out side, just like they do every morning. With a sigh, Akane sat her self down at the table and immediately tucked into her breakfast.

Ranma who had just finished his battle by knocking his father into the koi pond came inside and sat down next to Akane, "Oh boy, I'm starved!" He immediately started inhaling his food like he hadn't eaten in two weeks.

"Must you always behave like that at the table?" Akane asked looking at Ranma curiously.

He shrugged and answered of course with his mouth full of food, no one could understand him. She turned away and smiled lightly, trying to hold in a giggle but it came out anyway. He was pretty silly and cute when he was like that. Of course only a girl in love would ever think that Ranma was cute while stuffing his face with food.

"What's so funny?" Ranma asked after swallowing his mouthful of pickles, completely baffled by her behavior.

Akane cleared her throat and sat up straighter, "Nothing." She continued to eat her food. "Ranma, I think we need to have a serious talk."

"Sewious?" he said with his mouth full of rice. He swallowed hard and noticed that Akane indeed looked very serious. _'Uh oh,'_ Ranma thought, _'she's being nice, something must be wrong.'_ "What would you like to talk about?" he asked cautiously.

Looking at her family and Genma in panda form, who all seemed to have moved forward on the table and leaned over trying to hear what they were talking about, but Akane couldn't talk to him like this, with everyone listening. "Uh… how about we talk about it on the way to school?"

"All right then," Ranma answered as he got up and grabbed his satchel for school, Akane did the same and followed after him.

Once outside and on their way towards Furinkan High school, Akane was gathering up the courage to say something rather important. She cleared her throat and turned her head a bit looking at Ranma, "As you know we have been doing this same routine for nearly two and a half years. I am eighteen today."

"I knew that." Ranma said having completely forgot about her birthday. He hid it well that he had forgotten. "What does that have to do with anything though? I don't get it."

"I'm getting to it! Sheesh, you are so impatient."

"Well if you took as much time fixing yourself up pretty like than you do getting to certain points then maybe you'd be a helluva lot cuter!" He shouted at her.

"Ranma! I didn't say anything to insult you and you go and say something like that!" She stopped walking and was shouting at him as he was a bit ahead of her. He turned around and glared at her.

"Akane just get out what it is you trying to say, you drag me out of the house early so you can say what?! I could still be eating breakfast right now."

She groaned, "Is that all you ever think about, your stomach?"

_'No, I think about you.'_ He thought to himself but instead of saying that, he said, "Yes I think about food all the time, it's the only thing besides martial arts that brings me joy."

Akane tried hard to control her temper, "Ranma, I just wanted to say that you've been living here with me and my family for awhile now, and I just wanted to know straight out…You know…" She pushed her fingers together in triangle nervously, "if you li—" She was interrupted by a blur of blue and pink as it zoomed passed her, Akane had twirled around by the force of the speeding blur and was now facing the other direction.

"Ranma, take Shampoo on date this afternoon." The Chinese Amazon woman purred as she was latched on to Ranma's waist. Hearing that voice Akane whirled around and saw Ranma wrapped up in Shampoo's arms.

He was groaning and trying to pry the woman from his body, but she was holding on tightly. "No Shampoo I can't go on a date this afternoon, I have school."

"But Ranma no need school, Ranma marry Shampoo and move back to China with Shampoo." Shampoo cooed and rubbed herself against him

"Hey!" Akane shouted and stomped her foot hard on the ground so it cracked the pavement, "Ranma! I was talking to you and you go ahead and flirt with Shampoo!"

Ranma couldn't remove Shampoo from his person, "Akane, you know I am not flirting with Shampoo, she doesn't listen!" He said with his teeth clinched.

"Oh yeah, well that's not what it looks like from here!" Akane's eyes narrowed and her temper sparked.

Shampoo giggled, "Ranma like Shampoo best, Akane is no comparison to beautiful Amazon woman like Shampoo. Akane ugly and Ranma no like ugly pervert girl."

"Why you…" Akane stomped forward and grabbed a hold of Shampoo's shirt and tried pulling her off of Ranma. Soon the two girls were in a verbal match and Ranma couldn't understand a single word as it was all high pitched and noisy. He was able to wiggle out of Shampoo's hold and the two girls still continued to fight, loudly. The pig tailed boy was getting really annoyed, his eyes squinted tight and he shouted, "ENOUGH!!" alarming both Shampoo and Akane, "STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"

Both Akane and Shampoo jumped back from Ranma as they had never seen him looking so angry before.

"Ranma is you okay?" Shampoo asked.

"SHUT UP! Both of you!" he said seething with anger and annoyance, "I have had enough! If it's not you two always fighting over me, its Ukyou fighting with you, or Kodachi. I am fucking tired of it! Do you both understand me?!"

"Ranma I—" Akane started to say but was quite rudely interrupted

"Akane shut your mouth I don't want to hear it!" Ranma snapped at her and she immediately quieted down, wringing her hands together in front of her, trying to keep down the heavy emotions she was feeling with him yelling at her like that.

Ranma cleared his throat, closing his eyes trying to calm down. "Now, I am going to say something and I expect both of you to listen to me and do not interrupt me, not once. Do you both understand?" He saw them both nod their heads, fear and sadness evident in their eyes. "I do not want any of this. Shampoo I am not going to go on any dates with you, ever. If you ever try to approach me on dating you again, then well you won't want to know what will happen. If I want to go on a date with you, I will ask you." He said tightly. "Akane, not by my choice I was engaged to marry you, I do not want to marry anyone, especially someone like you. I don't like this; I don't want any of it. I just want my own life! Leave me alone, both of you, just go away, especially you Akane. Don't even come near me!" He turned on his heels and ran towards the high school, leaving both girls standing there in shock. Ranma stopped and looked back at them, he felt a twinge of guilt for what he had said, the girls looked well… Akane's posture was slumped and her face was buried in her hands, Shampoo was for once showing a bit of compassion as she was patting her on the back.

He closed his eyes, perhaps he better go and explain that he really didn't mean what he said, but he was just so angry and they just were not listening to him, ever. But his pride said forget about them, they'll get over it all will go back to normal soon. Yeah, if he thought more about it, the more guilty he would feel. Perhaps he would apologize to Akane later for what he had said. He just wanted her to see how much pain he went through on a daily basis. He groaned and turned back around and headed towards school.

The school bell wrung and class had begun, Akane was working hard on her geometry. It sure seemed like she had been wrong, so wrong and it hurt. The way he talked to her, and like that! She couldn't believe it. Akane looked up once, towards Ranma's desk, he was also working hard. This was going to be hard, she had to go home with him and live there with him knowing that he actually hated her. There was no way their parents would let she and Ranma out of this engagement, she was doomed to a completely unhappy marriage. She turned her gaze back to her work, this was the worst birthday she had ever had.

All day Akane hadn't talked to anyone, she would do her work, and at lunch she quickly ate and then ran to the library to hide from the world. Akane was sitting in the corner, a book sat in front of her open to the middle, but she really wasn't reading. Her eyes not focusing on the words, they were blurry as her tears fell silently onto the white pages, staining them with her broken heart. He hated her, Ranma absolutely hated her. She lifted her hand and wiped her eyes as she stood hearing the bell ring, signaling for everyone to head back to class to finish out the last half of school.

As Akane sat down at her desk, her cold, melancholy disposition seemed to fill the air and the students that usually sat around her, had moved their desks away from hers a few inches. Akane rested her chin against her fist as she looked into the dark water bottle resting at the top of her desk, at her reflection in the dark navy blue unbreakable plastic. Shampoo was right, she, Akane Tendou was nothing compared to that other woman. Shampoo was beautiful and stronger and better at martial arts than she was, and she could cook food without attempting to murder everyone. Same with Ukyou, she was cute and knew more about being a girl that Akane did. Akane felt like she was nothing, she would never be good enough for anyone, let alone Ranma.

After the final bell wrung and school was dismissed, Akane quietly gathered up her belongings and she looked up. Ranma was watching her closely, but she just sighed and looked away, he was probably mentally criticizing her and how he would hate to continue living under the same roof as her. Of course what she didn't know was that Ranma felt even worse, seeing her like this and withdrawing even from her friends, it had worried him. He had been too hard on her this morning, he pretended not to notice how depressed she had been, and that he could tell that she had been in tears. He would apologize to her, on the way home he would tell her that he was just angry and he didn't mean what he said.

The students were filing out of the classroom and he headed towards the door, looking back at where Akane was standing, he was surprised when he found that she wasn't standing there anymore. The window was wide open. Oh great! Now she doesn't even want to go near him, he had really done it this time. He shook his head with regret. Ranma would just wait till she got home and then talk to her.

Akane walked the streets of Tokyo for some time, she would stay out as long as possible. She did not want to face anyone, Ranma would probably prefer it if she stayed away, after all he did tell her to go away. She slowly passed by Ukyou's who waved at her.

"Hey Akane," Ukyou said pleasantly, and was slightly upset when Akane didn't greet her back, she just continued on her way. "Akane?" She ran to catch up with her. She jumped in front of her rival who was also her friend, stopping her. "Akane, what's wrong?" She held her by her shoulders.

"Nothing," Akane's voice sounded broken and tired, "I'll be all right." She did not look up at Ukyou.

"No ya don't, you're not leaving here until you tell me what is bothering you." Ukyou was not about to let Akane leave in this bad condition. She had never seen her like this and it worried her.

Akane forced a smile and looked up at Ukyou, "I told you Ukyou, I am fine, see everything is all great." She couldn't help the tears that were falling.

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not, just leave me alone please?" Akane did not raise her voice; she just shifted out of Ukyou's hold and continued on her way.

Ukyou watched Akane's retreating back, perhaps Ranma knew what was wrong with her. Ukyou hurried into her restaurant and went behind the counter and picked up the phone receiver calling over at the Tendou's. She waited for a few seconds and it was of course Ranma's voice that was on the phone. She asked him if he knew what was wrong with Akane; she listened while he explained what happened earlier that morning.

"Ranma! You Jackass! Why did you say something like that to her?!" Ukyou knew that Ranma really liked Akane, even if she often tried to get them to break up, for she loved Ranma too. But for him to say something like that to Akane, whatever happened must have been really bad. Of course all was fair in love and war, and now it seems that Akane is well upset, which probably meant that he called off the engagement, which also meant that he was now free, so Ukyou grinned and leaned on the counter. "You know, you should come down here Ranma, I'll make something special for you and then you can gather up your courage to apologize to Akane." She always knew the way to Ranma's heart was through his stomach. Poor Akane though, but oh well, you snooze you loose Ukyou thought to herself.

Akane did not look where she was going and bumped into someone who howled in pain, she looked up immediately and found a tall man with blonde hair, in a green shirt and khaki pants with hot coffee spilled all over him. "Domo arigato," she said immediately.

He was mad as he wiped the coffee off of his clothing, he was about to tell her off when he was awestruck. He waved his hand in the air getting her attention. "Do you speak English? My Japanese is a little rusty."

"Hai," Akane said with a nod, "I am sorry, about…" She pointed to his clothes and cringed.

"Aw, these old things? Don't worry, no harm done. Well no harm except for a little scorched skin." He was grinning, "You can make it up to me by having coffee with me, what do you say?"

Akane shrugged, she really was tired of walking so she agreed. "All right," she turned and followed the blonde man, who held the door open for her, Akane smiled lightly and stepped inside the café. After the waitress had taken their order, the blonde man cleared his throat signaling that he was going to say something. "So what is your name?"

"Tendou, Akane." She said folding her hands in her lap.

He nodded, "I like that, Miss, you are a miss right, you're not married or anything?" He saw her shake her head no to the not being married part, "My name is Robert Graves, have you thought about your future Miss Tendou?"

"My future? Well I want to go to university, if that is what you ask?" Akane looked at him noticing he was slightly tan, and had bright green eyes.

"Have you ever thought about a career in film?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bronze case; flipping it open he pulled out a card and passed it to her.

Akane looked down at the card, with writing written in English, it read, Robert Graves, Talent agent, twelve hundred Buena Vista, Hollywood, California.

"You have a face for film my dear and I know what I'm talking about."

Akane wondered if this guy was telling the truth, she had often heard in the news about scams and the women are actually sold into underground slavery. "Is this real?" she asked. The waitress came by and placed their coffee cups down in front of them.

"It is; I'm a talent agent."

"You don't even know me, how do you think I have any talent?" Akane looked down at the card again.

Robert picked up the pitcher of cream and poured some in, "I am on vacation with my family, my wife who is Japanese is the reason that I am here visiting her relatives. I think it was pure fate now that you had run into me. He leaned over and pointed to the phone number. "You can even call my office. I'm not the only talent agent that works at the agency. I know this sounds like a load of bull but I know that you have what the world is waiting for. I can tell and I usually have a good eye for these things."

"You really think so?" Akane couldn't believe this it all seemed too good to be true.

"I do. Of course you would have to relocate."

"I can't stay in Tokyo? They have film studios here too."

Robert smiled, "Still cautious I see, of course who wouldn't be. Getting approached by a strange man saying I can make you famous if you move away from your home and family probably sounds a little fishy. But Miss Tendou, all this is true."

Her eyes narrowed in thought when she was interrupted by a child's laughter, she looked towards the sound and a Japanese woman who was holding the hand of a small boy had come into the café.

"Ah, Robert there you are." The woman said with a smile, "I thought I saw you come in here." She looked down at Akane with a smile, "And who is this?"

Robert smiled up at his wife, "This is Akane Tendou."

"You never do get away from work, do you Robert? We are on vacation and still you attract it." She said lightly with a hint of amusement, she was smiling down at Akane, "I'm Aya and this young man is my son Kenichi."

Akane nodded her head, "It's nice to meet you." She wondered if this was all part of the scam.

"What do you think Aya; do you think this girl has what it takes?"

Aya put her finger to her chin as she scanned Akane's face, thinking. "I agree Robert; she does seem a little young though. How old are you dear?"

Akane looked down into her cup before looking up at Aya, "I just turned eighteen today."

"Young, but not too young," Aya said with a smile. "I think you have a real shot with this one Robert."

"That's what I thought too," He smiled at Akane and took a drink from his coffee cup. "I'll go over to Walter's Tokyo office and get this young lady a contract."

"Contract, contract for what?" Akane said sounding rather clueless.

Both Aya and Robert were amused by her innocence, "A contract for me to be your agent, you do want to show the world what you have, don't you?"

Akane shrugged, "I guess so, I mean how do I know this really isn't just one huge trick?"

"Well you can come along with me to the agency while I get your contract and you can see for yourself that this is completely legit." Robert said, putting money down on the counter for the bill and scooted out of the booth. "I'll see you Aya back at your parents later."

"All right," Aya kissed him quickly and took the little boy by the hand leaving the café, while Robert waited for Akane.

Not having anything else to do today, Akane agreed to go with him. They were walking towards the agency when Robert asked, "So what else do you do besides school?" He pointed to her school uniform.

"Well I'm a martial artist; I have been doing it since I was a little girl." Akane answered with a slight smile.

"Martial arts, huh? That's awesome." Robert was thinking out loud, "that probably means you'd be able to do your own stunts, which would save the studios money in the long run."

"Not to still seem suspicious, but you aren't an agent for like adult films are you?" Akane's face was flushed as Robert was looking over at her, he suddenly chuckled.

"Miss Tendou, I assure you that I am not an agent for the adult movie industry," He went on to name a few of the actors and actresses he represented when they were new to the industry. He could tell Akane was impressed.

Robert led Akane to the agency's building, "This is it," he opened the glass door which said Walter Mann's Talent Agency on the door, allowing her to enter the building first. Akane's feet touched brown carpet and she could see a pretty receptionist who looked a tad familiar at the front desk talking on the phone. Robert waited until the young lady set down the receiver and started writing a message. "Good afternoon Jun," he said with a smile.

"Misser Grabes, it nice see you again." Jun said, her head tilted slightly and her large silver hooped earring swung a little, "What can do for you?"

"This is Akane Tendou, I would like to get a contract for her."

Jun's eyes shifted to Akane, "Oi, I know you." She said with a smile to Akane. "I one year ahead of Akane in high school," she said to Robert. "She play good Juliet in play."

Akane was smiling, she thought she had recognized her from somewhere, and the two girls immediately started conversing in Japanese, which caused Robert's eyes to cross.

"All right girls, lets converse in English in front of the talent agent," he teased and pointed to himself.

"But you're married to a Japanese woman," Akane said to Robert.

Robert leaned against the front desk, "Yes that is true. I am still learning the language you see."

Jun scooted back from the desk, "I get contract." She lifted herself off her plush chair and rushed down the hall.

"Next we'll get your passport, so that you may leave the country." Robert saw Akane wringing her fingers together nervously.

Clearing her throat, Akane tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "I don't know about this, it all seems so sudden. I think I need some time to really think about this."

"I have an idea," Robert looked up as Jun returned from the back hallway with a contract in her hand, she came around the front of the desk and handed it to him with a smile. He then returned his gaze to Akane's worried one, "You hold on to this," He held the contract up in the air briefly, "and we'll go get your picture taken for the passport, it won't be ready for about two days anyway. You can take some time to decide. Either you want to come back with me to California where I will make you a star or you can stay here in this city and live out your life in which ever way you like. I leave with my family in three days to head back to the states. What do you say?"

Akane looked at Robert, her eyes shifted to Jun who was smiling and then her gaze drifted to the contract…

Kasumi was setting out the pretty chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. Written on the cake in red food coloring were the words 'Happy Birthday Akane!' with a smiley face right next to it. She looked at the family sitting around the table, two people were missing. "Hmm, where are Akane and Ranma?"

Genma grinned, "Perhaps they've eloped, finally our houses will be united and our children will carry on the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"Oh happy day!" Soun said with a proud glow in his eyes.

Nabiki rolled her eyes she was about to say something when she heard Akane's voice.

"I'm home!" Akane shouted and a few seconds later appeared in the tea room, looking at her family.

"Happy Birthday Akane," Kasumi said with a smile, she looked behind her not seeing anyone. "Isn't Ranma with you?"

Akane felt as if some one kicked her hard in the stomach, Ranma… "Uh…no… Why do you ask?" She sounded as if nothing was wrong and sat down with her family, "Who cares where that idiot is," she said with her eyes closed and a slight attitude in her voice.

Nabiki being able to observe others knew something was up. Her sister was hiding something. She heard the rumors of the fight that Ranma and Akane had this morning. They hadn't been seen together at school all day. Akane had mostly kept to herself. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, that's so!" Akane shouted back at her sister, her eyes opened and she could see Nabiki's brows were arched. "Ugh can't we just forget about Ranma right now, please?!"

"Akane," Soun started to say, "He is your fiancé he should be here for your little birthday celebration."

She shrugged, _'he probably doesn't care anyway,'_ she thought to herself, but then seemed to perk up, she smiled and waved her hand in the air nonchalantly. "It doesn't matter Dad. I don't feel much like celebrating myself, I think I'm going to go lay down." She quickly got up from her spot on the floor and rushed up the stairs and into her room. Akane threw her school satchel on the desk and opened it, pulling out the contract that Robert had given her.

What should she do about this? It sounded like a great opportunity. Akane sat down in her blue plush desk chair. This could be the start of a new life for her, there would be no stupid engagement, no Ranma. Akane sighed, no Ranma, well there was no Ranma right now either way. He didn't like her at all. He made that perfectly clear this morning. It would be ridiculous to move to another country just because of a guy who hated her. She was having confusing thoughts and Akane figured that she really did need to get out of here, to get away, after all Ranma did tell her to go away. He would get what he wanted. But, what about her family, she loved them with all her heart, this was a really hard decision and she was not even close in deciding what she would do. She leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling. "What should I do?" she said out loud to no one in particular.

It's not like she could even talk her father about this, he would tell her not to go, but to stay here and marry Ranma to unite their school. Akane leaned forward, her posture bent and she cradled her face in her palms. It's not even about feelings or love, just to see their school succeed, her father didn't even care how she felt. She was not going to marry a cold insensitive jerk, in other words Ranma… who does not want to marry her at all anyway. With a soft long sigh, Akane stood and paced her floor. She would just be in his way here. She would leave him alone and he may do whatever he pleased with whoever he pleased. Akane did not want to stay around and watch that, no, it would hurt too much. There was only one thing to do; Akane had to get away from here, away from her family, the engagement. If Ranma didn't want her, then she would find someone who did, someone who would love her without all these complications, and fiancés and other such insane insanity. Of course that might be hard to find, but in a new place perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

Akane went to her bedroom door and pulled it open. Looking out for anyone she hurried down the stairs. She could hear the television on and her family laughing. Good, they were distracted. She went to the phone and picked it up. She pulled from her pocket the business card that Robert gave her and flipped it over, on the back was the number for his cell, where she proceeded to dial the number, she waited and heard his pleasant, 'This is Robert Graves' on the other end. "Uh hello, this is Akane."

"Ah, Akane, what can I do for you?"

She took a deep breath, pushing down her nervousness, "I—I want to do it."

"That is wonderful Akane, you won't regret this decision I promise you that. I will see you at the airport on Monday morning. I will have a plane ticket and passport for you. Remember to bring the signed contract with you."

She smiled brightly for the first time that day, "All right, I'll see you then. Bye." Akane hung up the phone and turned around smashing into something hard. "OH!" She grunted noticing that a pair of hands holding onto her shoulders had come up and steadied her.

"Watch where you're goin' klutz!" Ranma shouted at her, but did not let her go. She was so close her scent of fresh strawberries hung in the air around them, his eyes narrowed with the effect that her closeness had on him.

Akane angry shook herself away from him, "Ranma?! What were you doing?" She stepped back glaring up at him.

Well at least she was talking to him now, "Who were you talking to?" He was watching her face closely for any sign of a lie she might try and make up. She was just awful at lying. All Ranma heard was her end of the conversation but it sounded like she was going to meet someone.

She shrugged, "Just this uh…guy I ran into today. It's not really any of your business Ranma." Akane turned away from him.

_'A guy!'_ Ranma's mind shouted in rage _'she met a guy!' _He kept in a growl that was threatening to come out. He needed to hide his irritation the only way he knew how…"A guy, bah! As if any guy would want a meeting with you, you ain't got nothin' to offer him," he said to Akane's back, knowing that he would irritate her and she would turn lash out and attack him. Which was what he wanted, she was being much too depressed lately.

"What did you say Ranma!?" Akane as if on queue twirled around, glaring daggers at her fiancé. She was ready to pound him into orbit with what he said… it then hit her, he did not like her. She blinked her anger dissipating, "Is that really what you think Ranma?" Akane's tone was calm and gentle with just a hint of sadness.

Ranma was prepared for the blow but it never came, he straightened his posture. She was trying to lull him into a sense of security, he just knew it! Well she wasn't going to get away with it! "Uh…uh, yes. Anyone who would want you has to be out of their mind. You have no sex appeal..." He lied, of course she did, man she was so, so sexy, her body made him shiver whenever he was close to her. "…you have the strength of a gorilla, you're unsexy and totally uncute!"

He knew she was unaware of how she drove him crazy, she often left him so frustrated. Especially since Ranma had started paying her little visits during the night, he would sit by her bedside and watch her sleep, the soft rising and falling of her chest, the way she would make soft noises in her slumber, and sometimes if he was lucky she would turn over on her side and face his direction, where her night shirt would expose a bit more of her skin to his sight than he could handle and he would have to hurry out of her room or else risk her wrath for he would do something to her that one should not talk about in polite conversation.

"I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment to you," Akane said, her head bowed. That definitely proved it that he was so disgusted by her. It was true, she was nothing to him, nothing at all.

Ranma was confused; she didn't insult him or anything. She just stood there and took it. The way she was acting was completely weird, that wasn't like Akane at all. "Huh, what?"

She lifted her head, a forced smile was upon her lips she wasn't expressing any of how she was feeling inside on her face. "I'm sorry Ranma, perhaps if I were more like Shampoo, or Ukyou even…"

"Akane, why would you want to be like them?" Ranma had never sounded so calm before, it was scary! But his confusion was reaching high bounds, so high that it was causing him to have weird feelings, like Akane was trying to tell him something, not through words but how she stood there holding her posture and apologizing and saying if she was more like Shampoo or Ukyou.

Akane felt no need to answer him; she wasn't going to say anything about what she was going to do. He did not need to know, it's not like they are in a relationship and she has to explain anything to him. At this point he was just a boy living in her father's house with his own father. She owed Ranma nothing. "Never mind Ranma, it doesn't matter." She started forward, passing him.

Ranma felt odd and reached out grabbing a hold of her arm, this seemed to have shocked her and she turned slightly. "Akane, uh…are you still upset?"

Looking down at his fingers which were curved around her arm, she felt a tingle rush through her. "What would I have to be upset about?" _'Except the fact that you hate me.'_ She thought to herself while lifting her eyes to his. "Ranma, don't worry about it."

"Feh, who said I was worried? I was just askin' It's not like I care about ya or nothin'." He said defensively

She pulled her arm from his hand, "I see." Akane kept her emotions in check as she walked away from him and climbing the stairs to her room. Upon entering her bedroom she closed the door softly behind her.

Ranma stared up the stairs, scratching the back of his head in confusion, something was going on. Akane never behaved so docile before in all the time he has known her, he'd rather have the fiery, yes even violent girl back. It's like she was afraid to talk to him, probably because of how he behaved this morning, which he realized was probably the worst thing he had done. He just couldn't take it anymore and his anger got the better of him. He would find a way to make it up to her, he promised himself that.

Saturday and Sunday had not gone as Ranma had planned, Akane was acting strangely quiet, she wouldn't really talk to him except to say things like, 'Ranma please pass me the pickles,' or 'May I have that orange over there?' She was treating him well like a stranger, as of he were just a tenant in her home, not like she used too. Akane had changed completely and he was not comfortable with it.

On their way to school on Saturday, Ranma had asked her if she was feeling all right and she had answered, "Yes, I am just fine." They didn't really hold up a conversation for long. And when they had ran into Ukyou, he thought he saw Akane twitch, but she merely closed her eyes and breathed in. He had complimented Ukyou annoyingly about the lunch she had made for him, just to see what Akane would do. She didn't do anything, just simply walked away on towards school as if what he had done hadn't bothered her. Ranma knew Akane was often jealous of the other girls, but it wasn't them he wanted, it wasn't them he thought about in dark of the night while he took care of… it wasn't them he wanted wrapped around himself in oh so erotic ways. It wasn't them that he loved with all his heart and would protect at any cost. It was her, it was Akane. And with her practically ignoring him, he was determined to do anything to get her attention.

Sunday was the worst; she had avoided him all day. Ranma had watched her closely as she did her training exercises in the dojo; she seemed to have worked out a couple of hours more than usual. He rather enjoyed watching how sweaty she would get and her clothing stick her to like second skin. When she saw him watching her, she merely apologized for taking too long and that the dojo was free for his use. After she gathered her towel and passed by him, Ranma felt the urge to grab her and shake her and make her talk to him.

"Akane!" Ranma shouted and she turned around, looking at him innocently. "Uh…Akane, I… are you sure everything is all right? You seem a little different?"

_'Why does he do this, why does he torment me? Pretending that he cares about me_?' Akane thought to herself, '_Of course I am not all right. I love you, you stupid ass!'_ she wanted to shout that in his jerky face, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her like this, completely vulnerable. He would only hurt her further. Not expressing anything, Akane said, "I am just fine." She just had to last till bedtime with him, she would be gone tomorrow. The plane leaves at eight am. She could not afford to be honest with him, she did not want to leave on an even more unhappy note. Life was going to change, a life without Ranma, wow it was certainly going to be different. She had gotten so use to him being around, it was difficult thinking about the times before he stepped into her life and now, as she stared at him she could feel the prickling of tears. He wanted to be free of her, she could tell he did. Fine, it's what he wanted it was what he will get.

She was going to cry, Ranma wondered what he had done now. "Akane, what's the matter, you can tell me whatever is bothering you." He stepped closer to her.

Akane shook her head, she couldn't. "I am all right, its my uh… its girl stuff. Hormones, around this time of the month." She lied

Ranma's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She was lying "Akane, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Tears fell, sliding down Akane's cheeks. "I gotta go Ranma," She turned around and started moving away from him.

All Ranma could do was stare, why was she crying like that? What was the matter with her? He felt the strong urge to go to her right now and hold her close and tell her that everything was all right. But he didn't. His pride would not let him do it, not to tell her how he felt at that moment. He let her walk away.

That night, when all the family was asleep, Ranma paced outside below Akane's window. She was up a bit later tonight, he mused. It was nearing midnight and her light had yet to be switched off. He jumped to the tree, then up on the roof and with using great stealth he hung down watching what she was doing. Akane was at her desk in a pink tank top with a puppy paw on the front, and puppy paw prints on the darker pink pajama pants, writing on a sheet of paper. Ah… she was finishing up an assignment for school. After writing up the last sentence Akane sat the pen down on the desk and stretched, pushing her chest forward and throwing her arms back, she twisted about and then stood.

Not really thinking that Akane had a voyeur, she switched off the light and hurried to her bed. Then slipping into the blankets she closed her eyes hoping to get to sleep quickly.

After a long while, Ranma looked around before quietly sliding Akane's window open. He could hear her soft breathing as she slept. He leapt down from the window sill to her floor with the greatest of ease. He made not a sound as he quietly crossed her floor to stand at her bedside. She looked so peaceful as she slumbered. Ranma kneeled down so he was more level with her. He scanned her face and watched her brows crinkle, making an unhappy face. Ranma wondered what she was dreaming about, he gently lifted his hand and pressing it tenderly against her cheek and her face softened, his fingers feather light against her skin, he touched her nose softly and she gave him a sweet smile.

"Ranma…" She breathed out in her sleep.

His eyes widened a fraction, wondering if she was dreaming about him or dreaming about killing him?

Akane in her deep sleep reached up before Ranma had time to react and pulled his arm against her, looping both her arms around his and pulling his whole upper body downward, he steadied himself before he came crashing down against her with his free hand, so he wouldn't crush her and wake her up. That was close! Ranma's mind shouted. He needed to get out of there right now, if she woke up and found him like this, she would definitely kill him. Carefully and watching her face for signs of waking, Ranma tried to pull his arm from in between hers. She only tightened her hold and he groaned. He was way too close to her now; he could feel her soft breath on his face, which smelled of fresh mint. Akane was pulling him even more against her and he held his breath hoping that she did not wake up.

"Ranma…" She moaned softly, her arms unfolding around his arm.

This was it, she was letting go, it was his chance for escape! His mental victory was short lived as her arms in a speed that would rival his, quickly slid around his neck and pulled his head down, her lips meeting his.

Ranma stared wide eyed, he did not move. If he did he knew she would wake up and he would be a dead man. _This was just a great!_ He thought sarcastically. Here he was lip to lip with Akane and she was asleep. Why couldn't she be doing this when she was awake? Ranma wanted to pull away, he really did. But something in him wasn't letting him do it. The whole situation changed with Akane was starting to let go and Ranma might not have another opportunity like this again, his mind decided to take a small vacation as he let his eyes fall closed and his hands come up, cupping Akane's face in them. He heard her small moan as he more firmly pressed his lips to hers. Oh great God, why hadn't he done this before? Ranma felt her mouth open and he took complete advantage of it, not caring if she woke up any more.

His tongue dipped into her mouth with great urgency, pressing against hers, harder and faster he needed her, needed to taste her. Their mouths were fused together wet, slick and hot. Ranma kissed her so hard and so strong that he caused her yet to moan again.

Ranma started to feel light headed and he did not want to stop. But he had too the need for air was really starting to attack him. He pulled away from her breathing hard, staring down at her. Her eyelashes fluttered and only opened part way, Ranma stilled instantly feeling as if time was passing by very slowly.

Akane was half asleep and she said in a breathless whisper, "Oh, I'm having that dream again." Her eyes falling closed once more.

Letting out the breath he didn't realize he was holding, Ranma decided not to tempt fate with his death. He looked down longingly at Akane; she was so out of it that she didn't realize that he had really been in her room, doing what he shouldn't have without her consent. Man oh man he wanted to do it again, right now the urge for him to forget all about honor and take her right now, to feel her beneath him, while he… and she would cry out and he would… UGH!! He needed to leave now, his self control was waning.

Ranma rose to his feet, and headed for the door. If he turned around to look at her now he would never make it out of Akane's room with both their purities intact. He wrenched the door open and practically ran out of the room, heading for the bathroom. He needed to take care of hi…er business, and now!

In the early morning hours, Kasumi would rise and prepare breakfast, as she yawned coming down the stairs she saw a piece of paper tacked up on the wall by the phone. It was addressed to the entire family. Kasumi noticed Akane's writing and took down the paper unfolding it, she began to read. She lifted her hand to her lips and said, "Oh my."

Soun was scratching the back of his head as he approached Kasumi from behind, "Whatcha got there, Kasumi?" He asked.

"It's a note, from Akane." Kasumi said calmly, handing it to her father then walking a bit quicker than usual into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

The head of the Tendou house started to read the note from his youngest daughter… It started with Dear Family… I wanted to start by saying I love you all and don't worry about me. An opportunity had come up and I have decided to take it, by the time you read this letter I will no longer be around. I am leaving Japan but not to worry, I will write and I'll even phone from time to time. Just whatever you do, don't come after me, please. I have to do this. I am sorry Dad, but I can not marry Ranma, I will not marry a man who does not want me, I can't do it. I need someone who loves me and it is clear that Ranma does not. He should be free to marry whoever makes him happy, and I know that it is not me. Tell him I am sorry for leaving without a word, and that the engagement is off. He is free of me. Please let everyone know that I love them and I miss you all already. Please take care of yourselves. Farewell, your loving Akane.

Soun stared at the letter, his daughter was gone, "Oh Akane…"

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Well that is the first episode of It's What I Want, tell me what you all think by leaving me a review. Now I might put this as an R rating, because there will be more adult situations, It's PG13 for now I think. Let me know if the material in this first chapter is borderline R-ish and I'll change the raiting. Well stay tuned for Episode 2. which will be out soon. I will also be updating in this upcoming week, Across the Stars my Ranma/Tenchi crossover fanfiction and A Slave's Tale my AU Inuyasha fanfiction. Until then readers. TTFN

Ryoko Blue


	2. Hurray For Hollywood

Summary: Life for Akane had not gone the way she hoped and a chance for a new life fell into her lap and she took it, leaving Japan all together. It is now ten years later and Akane is back in Tokyo filming a movie, will she want her old life back or will stardom come between her and what she really wants. This story will revolve around the ten years of the Ranma cast's lives.

Disclaimer: Yeah right, if Ranma ½ were mine, then well I would be filthy stinking rich, wouldn't I?

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Thank you all so much for you wonderful reviews, I hope you all enjoy this next episode

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It's What I Want

Episode 2—Hurray For Hollywood

Soun Tendou stared at the note that Akane left for the family, he couldn't believe it. His daughter seemed to have run away. He felt the emptiness surround him, nothing was making sense anymore. Why had she done this, was this all because of Ranma, did she leave because of him, or was there a reason that he did not know about that caused his youngest daughter to leave in silent, secretive behavior? He had never known she was thinking about leaving, the thought never even crossed his mind. Why, why, why?

Nabiki who was coming down the stairs passed her father and headed to the kitchen for some juice. She heard sniffling.

"Kasumi?" Nabiki asked while pulling a pitcher of red cranberry juice from the refrigerator. "Are you all right?"

Kasumi tasted the Miso soup and put the spoon down on the counter "It's Akane, she's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"The letter didn't say." Kasumi said then pulling the pan off the stove, she started ladling the soup into five bowls, the sixth one would not be filled and Kasumi couldn't help but feel the loss. She turned around facing her sister with a smile on her face though. "Breakfast is nearly ready." Kasumi said cheerfully as she carefully placed each bowl on a tray and carried it out to the table.

Nabiki followed her sister into the tea room "Letter, Akane left a letter?"

"Yes she did," Kasumi set the bowls at each place setting "I hope she is all right, where ever she may be." The eldest sister went back into the kitchen to get the rest of the breakfast foods.

Soon everyone was sitting around the table, Soun was merely picking at his food, Nabiki was eating regularly, and Kasumi who was scooping another bowl of rice for Genma smiled.

"Here you are." She said handing him the bowl.

Ranma wandered in late "Yo, sorry I'm late. I must've over slept."

A loud clatter hit the table, it was Soun he had slammed his chopsticks down on the table rather hard, creating a ruckus. "Ranma! This is all your fault!"

"Now wha'd I do?" Ranma had jumped back a bit, taking a defensive stance.

"Whoa now Tendou," Genma started to say. "What could he have done in such a short amount of time? Unless it was midnight eating and making a huge mess in our room again" He immediately rounded on Ranma "All right boy, out with it. What did you do?"

Waving his hands wildly in the air, Ranma really hadn't a clue what he had done, well actually he had a small clue… "Nothing Pop, sheesh." He felt sweat of guilt prickling. He had been doing something all right and now he was sure he was busted.

"How could you Ranma, my poor little girl, my sweet innocent little Akane," Soun sobbed, bringing his arm up covering his eyes as he cried loudly into his sleeve.

Ranma swallowed hard, but how did he find out!? He was always so careful. "Um…Uh….I can explain! Really! Mr. Tendo, I didn't mean to do it. I just couldn't help it!"

"Then explain this!" Soun pushed the letter that has been wrinkled so many times from his reading it, across the smooth polished table, to Ranma's spot.

Feeling a huge surge of relief wash over him, knowing that Mr. Tendou did not know about Ranma's late night visits to Akane's room, he felt a tad better, able to keep it a secret for now. Bending over, Ranma read the letter silently to himself, his eyes widening in shock.

"Akane is gone and it's all your fault Ranma!" Soun pointed at him, his face red and his eyes glassy, his bottom lip started quivering again and he howled with his tears.

Ranma reached down clutching the letter in his hand, crushing it. He jolted upright and ran from the room, racing up the stairs towards Akane's room. He violently threw the door open and it banged loudly into the wall. He stepped inside, the room was empty. Ranma noticed the bed was neatly made, the room felt vacant and cold, loneliness seemed to surround him entirely. Ranma looked towards the closet which was open and most of her clothing was missing, only wire hangers and some old coats and other garments were hung in there. Walking to Akane's desk, Ranma found several pieces of paper sitting there, letters starting out different ways. 'Dear Dad, Kasumi, Nabiki. I'm sorry I can't stay here,' which was crossed out, there was another one which was also addressed to Ranma and his father, it started to explain about her breaking off the engagement but it was also scratched out.

This must have been what she was writing last night while he had been watching her. It was hitting him all at once, she left...She left him! His blue eyes clouded with controlled anger and pain. How could she do such a thing! And **w**hy? He glared down at the letter in his hand "Akane, you stupid…" He shouted at it, how could she just leave, how could she!?

Downstairs, Soun was finally settling down "How could she just leave us like this, we should go after her."

Kasumi cleared her throat "**N**ow Father, we should honor Akane's request."

"Don't you miss her Kasumi?" Soun asked, his eyes threatening to spill over once more with tears.

"Father this is what Akane wants, you have never thought about what is best for her." Kasumi took a small sip of her tea "You only forced her into an arrangement for our family Dojo, not giving a thought about Akane's feelings. She is struggling to find meaning in her life, something just for her."

"But she's all alone." Soun whimpered.

"That may be," Kasumi smiled at her father "But I have faith in my sister, I know she will be all right. Akane is strong, and stubborn. Nothing will stand in her way, she has the whole world at her feet right now. Let her explore her life and find what she is longing for."

"I couldn't have said that better myself Kasumi," Nabiki said. Then looking at Genma "Now what do we do about these freeloaders, now that the engagement is off."

"Now, now Nabiki, lets not be too hasty here. Akane might come back. She's done this type of thing before." Genma said smiling, he really didn't want to be kicked out, not when he didn't have anywhere else to go.

"Not like this." Ranma's voice came from the archway "Her clothes are gone, and her room is empty Pop." He sounded so, so, so controlled. His voice and posture did not really give away anything he was feeling. "She's left all right, but it's not like its important or anything. This was a huge waste of time." He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. "I never liked the stupid, idiot girl anyway." His eyes avoiding everyone, he stared at the floor. "I never wanted to be engaged to Akane in the first place."

Nabiki cleared her throat "Yeah right, Ranma." She lifted her tea cup to her lips and took a drink, her eyes closing. "Perhaps if you would have just said something to her, she wouldn't have left. She might still be here."

Ranma's fist went into the wall, yet his eyes were closed and he looked very calm. "Stop trying to blame all of this on me, do ya hear me Nabiki. Akane left it was her own decision to make. It ain't like I did anything different to cause her to leave, so just stop makin' it all my fault."

"That's just it Ranma, you didn't do anything different." Nabiki stood "Akane can only take rejection so long before it decides to eat away at her. She left and it was probably a good thing she did. I'm glad she's gone, just so she's far away from you!" Nabiki never yelled or really showed any kind of emotion, but she was angry, angry that Ranma was denying the fact that he was part of the cause of her sister's departure. "Arrogant, prick." Nabiki murmured as she left the room.

"Now, lets all calm down." Kasumi said "I am sure Akane will do fine on her own."

He couldn't take it anymore, Ranma felt as if the world was closing in on him and started to spin faster and faster, anger and betrayal seemed to cloud around him, bringing him into some kind of fog of rage. He bolted from the room, from the house entirely. He jumped to the roof, his fists clinching hard at his sides. "Akane, you dummy!" He yelled loudly into the air "I don't care if you ever come back!!" He ripped the letter to shreds and threw the pieces in different directions.

Akane jolted awake, her eyes snapping open instantly. Someone was shaking her, she turned to the person next to her looking at him curiously.

"We are landing now." Kenichi said while his mother helped put his crayons back in his backpack.

Turning back towards the window, Akane looked out, the plane was descending towards the earth, her nerves started attacking her again. What if all of this turned out to be a big mistake, she was all alone in a country she had never been before, into another crowded city, and yet a sense of excitement filled her entirely and her face was plastered to the window.

"Welcome to California, Akane." Robert said while leaning over his wife and child.

Hearing his voice, Akane looked at him, a small but unsure smile forming on her lips. Her head turned back around to the window. She could see them descending towards the airport, she closed her eyes as she pushed herself back into the cushion as the plane touched the earth. The sensation of pressure in her ears made her cringe.

"Miss Akane," Kenichi was poking her shoulder to get her attention, so she turned and looked at him, he had a piece of gum extended to her. "This will make your ears all better." He grinned.

"Thanks," **W**ith a smile on her face Akane gladly accepted the piece of gum from the boy's hand, she opened the silver foil wrapper and stuck the fruit flavored gum in her mouth and started chewing it.

The passengers soon left the airplane and headed down through the airport to the baggage claim. Akane followed Robert's family and they had to wait a few minutes for their luggage to appear. After gathering his family and Akane's luggage he turned to them family and said "I'll go get the car."

Akane was watching the many different kinds of people passing by, she was a bit nervous. Perhaps she wouldn't fit in here, she wondered if Aya felt the same way when she moved here from Japan. She didn't realize that Aya's gaze was on her until she looked in the older woman's direction.

"How was your flight, Akane?" Aya asked, noticing the girl's uncomfortable stance and facial expressions.

"Long," Akane answered looking around, someone nearly bumped into her and she managed to avoid getting knocked into. The man that almost knocked into her was tall and his head was shaved, he had a tattoo of an eagle on his arm, he gave her a dirty glare as if it was her fault that she was standing there. Akane gave him one right back, then turning he gaze, calmly to Aya and said "I was thinking I should probably call my family, to let them know I am all right."

Aya's brows narrowed in thought "You mean they didn't know?"

Akane shook her head "No, I didn't tell them." Her face was slightly changing to a soft crimson, "I left them a note before I left for the airport."

"Why didn't you say anything to them?" Aya was upset with that factShe would have hated it to one day find her son had left without a word to anyone, just picked up and left.

"If I had talked to them about it, they would have forced me to stay and into a situation where I would not be happy." Akane sighed, she didn't want to think about what would have happened if she told her family, she left in a cowardly manner it was true. All she had done on the airplane since she left Japan was think about a certain jerk, and she did not want to continue doing that. Akane wanted to forget all about him, her father would have made her stay and marry said jerk, and she would have been unhappy for the rest of her life since he did not want to be with her. "It is just better that I had left home that way."

Aya nodded, not really understanding Akane's reasons for leaving like a thief in the night, but she would do her best to help Akane adjust to life here in Los Angeles. "I don't know your reasons of not speaking to your family, but they must be good ones for you to have been so secretive. I will do all I can to help you here in this strange new city."

"Thank you, Aya." Akane looked away from her, and to her blue bags. Her eyes squinted as the color of her bags seemed to resemble the color of Ranma's ey—Ugh! Akane's mind shouted at her. _'stop thinking about him!'_ her mind shouted.

Robert came in from the outside hurrying towards Aya "All right, let's get going." He grabbed some of the luggage and started wheeling it outside, with Akane and his family following after him. Robert popped the trunk of his nice silver Infinity and started loading the luggage into it. "First we are going to take Akane to the agency's house so that she may get settled in there and then we'll head on home." He waited till everyone got into the car before climbing in the driver's seat himself. Robert pulled out of the LAX traffic and onto the freeway. "Now Akane, you will be staying at the house the agency lets it's clients stay in for free, but for anything extra like spending money for recreation you might want to consider getting a part time job until your acting career takes charge."

Akane nodded, listening to what he was saying. She was more impressed with the surroundings, as the sun was setting the lights of Los Angeles made her smile, it reminded her of home in some ways.

They pulled off the freeway and Akane could see it, she sat up straighter and plastered her face to the window looking out she could see the ocean, they were now in Malibu where the house was. The ocean, it was beautiful and blue, the waves washing up on the beach were so peaceful and welcoming. They drove a little bit further and Akane saw one of the largest houses she had ever seen. It was tall and white, with stucco paint, there was an iron gate and a numbered key pad, where Robert had to stop the car and punch in the code before driving through the gate. The driveway was made of red clay bricks as he drove the car up to the house.

Getting out of the car, Akane stood and looked all around her, she could definitely hear the ocean. She let Robert remove her luggage from the trunk before helping him wheel it to the door. They passed a rock and cactus gardens, which were on both sides of the reddish stone pathway. Coming to the door, which was very tall and thick, it was a soft pinkish color, it had an iron door handle which Robert pushed down the handle and pushed the door open.

"Hello?" His voice echoed in the tall entry way, his shoes clicked on the gray tile entry way. "Anyone home?"

Akane took a deep breath and stepped over the thresh hold after Robert, she was wondering what he was doing. She bent down to remove her shoes, and as she sat them down on the tiles, she then heard voices and they seemed to get closer and she stood upright as two people came through the curved archway, one man and one woman. They didn't look too much older than herself.

The woman, was kind of tall, with long dark red hair and bright green eyes, she was wearing a yellow sundress with small rosebuds patterned on it. She looked friendly and she smiled at Robert. The other man wasn't nearly as tall as the woman, but he too looked friendly, his hair was short and chocolate brown, his eyes were a dark brown. And he was wearing a red tank top and white khaki shorts.

"Hey Robert," The woman said, and then she looked at Akane. "Who's this?"

Robert smiled and put his arm around Akane slightly and pushed her forward "This is Akane Tendou, she's your new housemate, she's from Japan."

"Hi Akane," She smiled at her "I'm Gloria."

Akane bowed her head slightly "Hello."

Gloria then gestured towards the man standing next to her "This is Cameron,"

"It's nice to meet you." Akane said looking at Cameron, he seemed to be nervous the way he was shifting around.

Robert cleared his throat "Well I'll leave you to get settled in here Akane, I'll call in the morning with a few appointments that I will have set up for you."

Akane nodded and turned watching Robert wave slightly to Gloria and Cameron before leaving through the front door. Clearing her throat, feeling rather uncomfortable, she smiled even though she did not feel happy on the inside.

"The third door on the left, that room has not been occupied yet." Gloria said, "We have two more house mates but they are out tonight." She pointed to the hallway, and Akane look in that direction. "That's where the bedrooms are.

"Ah, thank you." Akane grabbed her bags throwing a few over her shoulder while grabbing her suitcase. She hurried down the hall to the third door on the left. Upon opening it, she felt around the wall for a light switch. Flipping on the light, Akane found the room to be quite nice. There was a queen size bed with a dark navy blue comforter, a dresser and a small bookshelf. Next to the closet there was a large picture window with blue curtains that matched the comforter. Stepping inside the room she put her bags down on the bed, then wheeling her suitcase over she picked it up and threw it down next to her bags and opened it. She started putting her clothes away.

There was a knock and Akane turned seeing Gloria standing in the door way "Can I help you?"

Gloria stepped inside the room "I was just seeing how you settling in here."

"I am fine." Akane said then walked towards the closet and started hanging up a few of her blouses.

"So…" Gloria sat down on the side of the bed "Would you like some help?"

Akane shook her head "No, I can do it." She did not know why she was being so cold to this girl. She seemed really friendly.

Gloria could hear a slight attitude in the girl's voice, but then she remembered how she behaved when she came here to Los Angeles from Oklahoma, she too was alone. "Tell me where you come from, I know Robert said something about Japan?"

Akane dropped the skirt she was hanging up on the hanger on the bed "Hai," She nodded "I come from Nermia, in Tokyo."

"Ah, Tokyo, I've always wanted to go there." Gloria ran a hand through her vibrant red hair "What's it like?"

Thinking a moment, Akane sat down on the side of her bed next to Gloria "It is very crowded, but it was home."

Gloria nodded "Oh I understand about home, I miss mine too." She noticed that in Akane's open luggage there was a photo album and she pointed to it. "May I?"

Looking in the direction Gloria pointed in Akane saw what she wanted to look at and nodded.

Taking the leather bound album out of the suitcase, Gloria turned to the first page, seeing a picture of two girls, one with an a-line hair cut and one with long hair with it held together on the side against her shoulder with a blue hair **scrunchie**. "Who are these girls?"

"Oh," Akane looked over at the picture "Those are my sisters" She pointed to the one with short hair "That is Nabiki, she's a year older than me, and this one" She pointed to the girl with long hair "**…**is Kasumi, she is three years older than me."

Gloria smiled "I bet your family is proud of ya." She did not see Akane shrug her shoulders and continued to look through the pictures, she found a few of Akane's friends and one teenage boy in what looked like a uniform of some kind holding a stick. She was sure that Akane said his name was Tatewake Kuno and he was an idiot. She laughed about Akane's story how this Kuno guy would talk and behave. Gloria then saw a picture of a few guy's that were Akane's friends, one guy had long hair and glasses, Akane said that his name was Mousse and that he was from China and the other guy in the picture had a bad sense of direction and his name was Ryouga. They seemed like nice boys to her.

Gloria saw pictures of Akane's father and a few girls that Akane wasn't really good friends with but there were pictures of them anyway. Ukyou, Akane said was a good friend even though she wouldn't go into why they were rivals and one girl she did not like at all, her name was Shampoo. As soon as Gloria asked about Shampoo, Akane cleared her throat and turned the page, seeing a few more photos.

"Hey," Gloria started to say "Who's this guy, he's pretty hot." She was pointing to the picture of a guy who had his hair in a pigtail and he was wearing a red Chinese style shirt. Gloria watched Akane's facial expressions, the emotions that passed through her eyes were first happy then sad then moved right into angry.

"Oh Ranma? He's stupid and a jerk, and I hate him." Akane threw her nose in the air and closed her eyes tightly, crossing her arms against her breasts.

Her brows arched, Gloria then smiled lightly "Well if you hate him then why do you have his picture." She saw the girl's posture stiffen, yet heard her sigh. Akane's eyes opened and she looked right at Gloria.

"All right, well perhaps I don't hate him." Akane glanced down at her fingers in her lap and started twirling them together.

"Was he special to you?" Gloria moved closer to Akane, she noticed that the girl seemed very depressed.

Akane just shrugged "It's a long story." She said barely above a whisper.

Gloria lifted her hand and rested it gently on Akane's shoulder "I've got time."

Ranma sneezed and looked around suspiciously, wondering if someone was talking about him since he wasn't sick. He shrugged it off and went back to his task of packing up his pack.

The door was thrown open and Genma stood there "Where do you think you're goin' boy?"

"I ain't staying around here old man, I'm going to get Akane." Ranma still couldn't believe that Akane left like she did, so he was going to go and find her, **wherever** she was, he would never stop looking for her.

"Oh no you're not, didn't you read her letter? She doesn't want anyone coming after her. I think that means you as well." Genma pointed at Ranma "Don't make this situation any worse than it is."

Ranma growled and jumped to his feet "She shouldn't have left, the stupid girl. She's gonna get herself into trouble."

"That is not your problem." Genma grunted as Ranma's foot smashed him in the chest "Ranma, forget about Akane." Genma ran and tried to punch Ranma in the face but the boy dodged easily. "Tendou is letting us stay here until we find somewhere else to go, and I have a brilliant idea."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Ranma rolled his eyes. "Brilliant idea, you? You have got to be kidding."

"You still have two fiances Ranma, so I've made arrangements for you to marry Ukyou."

"What?!" Ranma's arms shot down at his sides as his fists clinched. "I ain't marryin' Ukyou, Pop. No way!"

Genma pushed his glasses up further against his nose "Yes you are, we'll never go hungry with her for a wife."

Ranma couldn't believe it, just like that he was supposed to forget all about Akane and marry Ukyou? That is impossible. "I can't believe you're making this decision based on your stomach." Then it struck him, oh yeah that was how he got engaged to Ukyou to begin with, because his father wanted their Okonomyaki cart. Ranma closed his eyes, trying to think clearly "I am not just going to marry Ukyou because she will be replacement for Akane."

"It is true I would rather unite the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, but let's face it boy, Akane is gone. You and Akane are not going to happen, we have to make the best with what we have. So Ukyou is the next best choice."

"I can't just forget about Akane." Ranma whispered, he was sure his father didn't catch what he said, but he was wrong.

"Ranma, I'm not asking you to forget about Akane. But we need to be realistic and move on." Genma never really said anything of importance, but right now he seemed to be. "You don't even know where Akane went, we're you just going to travel the world to find her? I don't think she wants to see you ever again or she would have told you she was leaving."

Ranma groaned and ran a hand through his hair "I don't wanna marry Ukyou," _'I don't love her.'_ He thought to himself, but wouldn't dare speak about his emotions in front of his father.

"You don't have a choice boy, Ukyou will be a fine wife, now be a man and take this decision like one." Genma turned and left the room.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Ranma sank to the floor. "Stupid Pop, stupid Akane." He grumbled. Looking over at his half packed, pack, Ranma groaned and kicked it. It flew into the wall imbedding itself into the wood. This was not supposed to be happening. Not at all, Akane running away has ruined his life and he would never forgive her for this. Ever.

* * *

Well that's it for Episode 2. In the next episode, Akane will have gotten on acting job and meets a new friend. Ranma is forced to marry Ukyou. Hmm Ukyou of course will be happy, but what about Ranma.? Well Until then readers. Thanks, and remember to review. 

Ryoko Blue


	3. Wedding Bell Blues

**Jane**: No, does Ranma ever remember everything he tells Akane when he is mad at her? The answer is no. We all know Ranma never means anything he says, especially to Akane. And don't worry, sometime during the story Ranma and Akane will meet up again and certain things will come up in conversation.

**Iluvdanrad**: haha yeah Ranma is a bit more pervy in this. Look at it from his point of view though, I mean he's 18 in the start of the story and he hasn't gotten any ever, its bound to drive him a little batty for some physical contact for the girl he loves.

**Prizz:** Yes Ranma is a big jerk, but he often speaks before he thinks, he has what I like to call Foot-In-Mouth syndrome ;)

**Ulitheal**: Sorry but Ranma will marry Ukyou, of course I didn't say it was going to last. I'm a firm Ra/Ak fan! Ranma and Akane forever!

Well that seems to be all the reviewers that needed addressing, I thank all the rest of you for your wonderful reviews, they really mean a lot to me.

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to update this story, I kinda had a writers block on this particular fan fic, now the ideas are back and I will resume it more regularly **

Disclaimer: Yeah right, if Ranma ½ were mine, then well I would be filthy stinking rich, wouldn't I?

Summary: Life for Akane had not gone the way she hoped and a chance for a new life fell into her lap and she took it, leaving Japan all together. It is now ten years later and Akane is back in Tokyo filming a movie, will she want her old life back or will stardom come between her and what she really wants.

* * *

It's What I Want

Episode 3—Wedding Bell Blues

It had been three months, three long months since Akane left Japan for who knows where. Ranma had heard from Kasumi that Akane had called a few times, but she did not ask about him or disclosed where she was.

It was nearing noon and Ranma stared at his reflection in the mirror, he was dressed in a smart tuxedo, and in just a few short minutes he would be marrying Ukyou. It's not that he didn't like the girl, she just wasn't Akane. Not that he wanted to marry that stupid girl anyway… His mind argued. Ahwho was he kidding? Even though that's how his feelings surely started, but now it's been hard to imagine his life Akane-less. Why was he letting his father push him around like this? Why wasn't he fighting for what he wanted? It was for this reason alone, something inside him broke when Akane left, which in turn left him unable to run after her. She ran off secretly, she didn't want anyone to know where she was. Was she in some kind of trouble? Was she lying dead in the woods somewhere? He would never know because right now he didn't have the courage to meet her face to face. Yes, it was true Ranma was afraid; afraid of Akane's reaction if she and he ever met up again.

What was he doing! Why was he thinking about her again? He promised himself that he would forget about Akane. Yes he was going to marry Ukyou and that was that. He could picture Ukyou now in her beautiful white wedding gown, full and beautiful with bows and ruffles and everything frilly he could picture. He closed his eyes letting his imagination take hold. _Oh yes Ukyou was looking quite lovely, her hair swept up in a beautiful twist atop her head with loose tendrils hanging down framing her face. Ranma was smiling into her green eyes which were slowly changing to a dark brown? Her hair changing to a blue black shorter style but still elegant as a white flower was clipped against the right side of her head. "Akane?" Her dress transformed right before his eyes, it changed from an extravagant royal ball gown of lace and sequins to a simple slender satin gown which flowed like water down to her toes. Spaghetti straps made of pearl going over her shoulders, the beaded bodice of the gown seemed to hug her bosom enhancing her figure. He blinked and saw Akane's face light up with a beautiful smile. Ranma's hand extended towards Akane, she tilted her head still smiling adoringly at him then slowly she turned her back on him, Ranma took a step and touched her shoulder only to find his hand seemed to pass right though her, Ranma gasped, "Akane?" He waited as she looked over her shoulder at him, and Akane said… "too late." She winked and giggled running off into the darkness. Ranma could not run after her, his feet were cemented to the ground. He called out for her: "Akane, Akane wait!" All he could hear was her sweet laughter as darkness seemed to glove around him. No, don't do this, no!_ "AKANE!" Ranma's eyes then shot open, he looked around and found that he was still in one of the rooms at the church waiting to be summoned to the wedding. Ranma squeezed his fists tightly, his eyes darkening with an intensity that not many ever had the privilege of seeing. Why was she tormenting him like this! "Akane you dummy!" He shouted out to no one.

There was a knock at the door and then it opened, Ryouga stood there with his arms folded across his chest. "Getting married?"

"What's it to ya Pork Breath?" Ranma said looking at his reflection and straightening his tie.

Ryouga shrugged coming into the room. "Oh I don't know, even though I hated it I figured you'd of married Akane. But she left you." He snickered, he didn't see Ranma's fist tighten at his side. "You're marrying Ukyou when you certainly miss Akane."

"Me? Miss that stupid tomboy? You've got to be kidding?" Ranma red faced shouted at Ryouga, who had turned towards him with a smirk on his face.

"Well then, if you don't miss her then why did you shout her name in what sounded like desperation?" Ryouga had crossed his arms over his chest, looking smugly at Ranma.

Ranma paled. "No I didn't."

"Yes you did," Ryouga moved over to one of the chairs that were situated around the room and sat down. "And the sooner you admit that you messed up somewhere with Akane, the sooner you will be able to move on."

"What would you know about it? Huh! She didn't leave you!" Ranma slammed his palms over his mouth.

Ryouga hummed. "In a way she left all of us Ranma, but you were the one she would always talk about to me when I was P-Chan. No matter how hard I would try, I knew that she loved you and only you. Even if I had wished that she would love me, it was only a dream. You Ranma, you had the reality."

Slumping down in the chair across from Ryouga, Ranma slouched forward. For the first time he felt like baring his soul, and to his rival for goodness sakes. "A few days before she left everything was fine, it was the same. I didn't do anything different, but Akane, she was acting weird."

"Maybe she finally had, had enough?" Ryouga leaned forward.

Ranma shook his head. "She should not have left that way, she should have talked to me. The letter she wrote I remember said somethin' about needing someone who loved her and that I didn't."

"Did you ever give her reason to think you did?" Ryouga leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I recall many of your fights, not once have I ever said anything hurtful to her, but you… you did it all the time."

Ranma growled. "I ain't the only one to blame, she can be pretty hurtful herself ya know!"

Ryouga couldn't help but laugh about it. "You know, you two were just not meant to be, if you can't get along for more than three minutes without arguing."

"Oh no, there were times when we got along. Of course it would always end with Shampoo doin' somethin' weird, or Kodachi even. And then Akane would blame me and send me airborne."

"I know I've said this to you before Ranma, but I will say it again. No matter who Akane ends up with, I will always love her. I will love her for the rest of my life." Ryouga smiled a little. "Even if I move on, fall in love and marry someone else, I will always remember Akane. No one will take her memories from my mind."

Sitting up, Ranma nodded. "I never wanted her to leave! And I hate to say this, but you're right. And I won't forget her either. Man I never thought I would say you were right about anything." He threw his head back slightly, looking up towards the ceiling. "I miss her. I miss her so much that it hurts." Ranma laughed lightly, but it wasn't an honest laughter it sounded more depressed than anything. Lowering his head he looked at Ryouga, "now I probably sound like a girl, huh?"

Ryouga shrugged. "Eh, you change into one. But who cares, it's normal to have feelings. It's what makes us human."

The door to the room was suddenly thrown open and Shampoo looking as angry as anyone had ever seen her stood there. "Ranma! You no marry Ukyou!"

"Sh—Shampoo!" Ranma sputtered rising to his feet. "What are you doing here?"

She growled stepping forward one step. "Shampoo hear from Mousse that you marry spatula girl, I no can allow." She lifted her arm, her finger pointing at Ranma. The feelings of sorrow and depression filled her eyes, which were brimming with the tears she tried to control from falling. "You no marry Ukyou." Her expression was nothing but extreme concentration as she jumped in the air at him, ready to strike with everything she was feeling. Shampoo did not anticipate Ryouga to grab her ankle and for her to fall to the floor.

On the floor, face down, Shampoo closed her eyes tightly everything she was feeling flowing freely from her eyes, the tears of pain and rejection. She did not even attempt to get up. She had lost, Shampoo the strongest warrior in her village had lost.

Ranma slowly walked over to Shampoo and kneeled down, hesitantly lifting his hand and placing it ever so gently on the back of her head. "Shampoo, I'm sorry." Was all he could say.

Her head snapped up, her violet eyes connecting with his. In a moment of desperation she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Shampoo noticed that this time he did try to remove her from his person. "Ranma, Shampoo love you. Why you marry Ukyou when Shampoo here for you?" She buried her tear streaked face into his chest.

"I have too, and Ukyou and I have been friends since we were kids." Ranma let out a long sigh. "It is the right thing to do, to honor the arrangement that my father had made when I was around five years old. You and I both know that if I wasn't marrying Ukyou, it would have been to Akane." His throat tightened at mentioning her name, Ranma felt it almost hard to breathe.

"Oh Ranma," Shampoo cried out. "Shampoo can no let go." Her embrace tightened and instead of him pushing her away she felt his arms enclose around her, Shampoo's eyes widened in shock as it was the first time ever that he had even held her.

"You have too Shampoo, I know that you are upset and very unhappy." Ranma leaned his cheek atop her head. "And we sometimes have to do things that we don't wanna do." He let his eyes close for a moment. "Even give up our dreams and fantasies to face reality." Ranma slowly moved his hands to her upper arms and grasped her lightly, pushing her back from him a bit. He could see that her cheeks were wet with tears and Shampoo tilted her head a little so that her gaze was pointed to the floor.

She took in a long ragged breath, trying to control the rapid beating of her broken heart. "Shampoo always love Ranma." Her eyes remained glued to the green carpet, "You no forget her?"

Ranma let the tiniest of smiles grace his features. "Nah, how could I? We've been through a lot together."

"Shampoo hope you happy with Ukyou." She of course was lying through her teeth, but if Ukyou was what he really wanted then she will no longer stand in his way. It was true, they were not kids anymore they were on the brink of adulthood, even though in Japan the age for becoming an adult was twenty, Shampoo knew that Ranma seemed to have reached becoming a true man as she sat here on the floor with him at his age of eighteen. Since they were no longer children, Shampoo would not resort to her usual tricks of trying to win him, she would back down with honor.

Quietly getting to her feet with her eyes still to the floor she whispered. "Bai la." And swiftly turned from him and practically flew towards the door with great beauty and grace.

Ranma watched as the door that Shampoo left through closed softly behind her, he heard Ryouga come up behind him. Ranma wrung his hands together. "Do you think she'll be all right?"

Ryouga nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Shampoo is pretty tough."

Looking over his shoulder, Ranma would make a request. "Do you think you could keep an eye on her for awhile?"

Shrugging, Ryouga really didn't have much to do anymore, except his travels. But now there was no Akane to come back to. He could pretty much go anywhere he wanted now, his love for Akane was the only thing that kept him returning to Nermia to defeat Ranma and of course his no sense of direction, but that is beside the point. He'd given up on the grudge he had held about middle school long ago. It was all for Akane in the end and now that she was no longer here, he felt a certain loss and he needed a purpose. "I guess I could check on her a couple times."

A knock at the door is what alerted the boys, the handle turned and the door creaked open. A wedding attendant poked his head in. "Mr. Saotome, it's time." He smiled and then pulled his head out of the room.

Straightening his suit, Ranma turned to Ryouga. "Well this is it, my old life is just about over, time to head into the future I s'pose." He was a bit unsure and shouldn't he be excited about this? After all Ukyou is one of his best friends and she's been behaving more like a girl and even wearing girl's clothing over the past year. Yes he should be happy, this should be one of the happiest days of his life, in the back of his mind it was softly chanting'…it should have been Akane…' over and over again.

No, it was time to move on. If Akane could move on with her life so easily then so could he, she didn't even try to contact him in the past few months. He was done with her all right. With his confidence full on what future lies ahead for him even if he had not gotten rid of that stupid curse, he was still a man and it was time to face responsibility. Ranma then took the first steps towards his new life.

* * *

Akane stood on the back porch of the Malibu mansion that she shared with three other people, her forehead was covered in sweat as she lifted the towel around her neck and dabbed at the wetness, she picked up her water bottle off the patio table and took a long drink. She just finished with her morning jog, the scent of the sea was very comforting and she felt completely at ease. Akane had taken her run along the beach and it was pure heaven, much different than it was back in Nermia.

After taking her last drink from her bottle, she headed towards the sliding glass door that led back inside. Slipping off her shoes, Akane then slid the door open and stepped inside onto the Spanish tile flooring of the kitchen, placing her running shoes in the small box that she had put there, just for that purpose. She noticed that her housemates were in the middle of breakfast, on Cameron's plate was a stack of waffles that he had popped in the toaster, Gloria was picking through a fruit salad of strawberries, bananas and grapes.

"Good morning." Akane started walking past them to get her own breakfast.

Cameron looked at his watch noticing it was now only seven twenty. "Akane, why do you get up so early?"

Akane poured herself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, a cereal that she enjoyed. "I'm always up early." She grabbed the non fat milk from the refrigerator and poured some in her bowl, then going into a drawer and getting a spoon, heading to the table.

"Man, I just got up ten minutes ago because I gotta be at work at eight." Cameron shoved a forkful of his waffles in his mouth. He was not very happy since he was still working at that electronics store while he was waiting for his big break. "Doob ou habe furp ooday 'oo, 'kane?" he asked with his mouth full which in turn reminded her of Ranma's bad table manners. She cleared her throat her posture slumped.

She nodded having spooned some of the Cheerios into her mouth. "Yeah, I have the lunch shift at Miyuki's all week, which I like because it's less busy than dinner." She stirred the round shaped oats in her bowl. "But I also have an audition at nine this morning for an actual big budgeted film." She took a deep breath. "I think the film is going to be called Wedding Bell Blues, the role I am trying for is the main character's best friend, who only has about twenty five minutes all together on screen. But its more time than the thirty seconds to the two minutes that I get during commercials, and I'm very nervous. "

Gloria lifted her head, a piece of banana was hanging off her fork. "What have you got to be nervous about? You'll do fine."

"I wish I could believe that," She spooned the rest of her cereal into her mouth. "What if they don't like me? What if they say, hey kid you have no talent go back where you came from. What if I came out here all for nothing?" Akane sat back in her chair.

"Hey now, you've been in at least three commercials and I thought you were great in them." Gloria hoped she was being encouraging, it was true Akane seemed to have a talent that most people only wished they had. "Look at it this way, you've only been here three months." A smirk curved against Gloria's lips. "It's not like you've been here oh lets say two years or anything."

Cameron rolled his eyes. "Oh sure, rub it in why don't ya." Officially ignoring Gloria now, he shifted in his chair, turning his body in a slant. "I wouldn't worry too much about it Akane, you'll be great. And if they don't like your audition, that's their problem." He added with a confident nod of his head.

"Besides," Gloria stuck that piece of banana in her mouth. "If you don't get the part, 'Better-Luck-Next-Time sundaes are on me." She said with a grin.

Akane couldn't help the tiny smile that curved against her lips as she nodded her head. "All right," Standing from the table and moving quickly to the sink placing her bowl in it, she turned to her housemates. "Well I better go have a shower and prepare myself for my audition." And she left the kitchen.

On her way to her room, she was being passed in the hall by her final housemate, Larry (Blue) Carter, he was slim and tall, a good looking guy, his hair was dark blue hence the nick name Blue, he was on a cell phone and his flamboyant tone was ringing in Akane's ear.

"Of course how could I not forgive him after all we had been dating for over a year, he promised not to be late again." He turned and smiled at Akane who nodded her head in response passing him going into her room. While heading towards the closet to get out something to wear for her audition, she passed her oak dresser with five drawers.

Sitting on her dresser was that invitation her family sent her, she glared down at the white paper with gold trim and the Japanese kanji writing. She was conned into giving her father her address, and she just knew that they were rubbing it in her face that her ex-fiancé, Ranma was marrying someone else. Akane always figured he would, he had always preferred the other girls to herself anyway. Not being able to help her still curiosity over the paper, she picked up the invitation. The date of the wedding had already passed. Yesterday, and on the side of the world where Japan was they were a day ahead of her.

When she had called home a couple of times, she had at least hoped he would have tried to get in contact with her to even see if she was all right and safe, but he didn't even try. Not at all. Akane had secretly wished that she would have heard his voice in the background asking which ever sister she was talking to at the time to let him to talk to her. Even if she told her family not to tell him, she always knew Ranma was one that would break the rules if it was something he wanted. And even if she told him in that very first note she left not to come after her, he might have done it. But he didn't. He was probably so pleased that she had left that she could picture him skipping through the streets of Nermia singing: 'No More Akane, No More Akane.'

Akane sat on the edge of her bed, taking a deep breath. Ranma had moved really quickly in acquiring a new fiancé and just knowing that it had only been in three months hurt, the mere idea of it caused a tightening around her heart that she was so easily replaced. Feeling something wet trickling down her cheeks, Akane lifted her fingers and lightly touched her face, pulling it back she noticed that there were tears glistening on her finger tips, she hadn't even realized she had been crying. She closed her eyes tight, her fist clinching hard. She was mad, upset with herself. What was she doing, why was she crying? This was ridiculous, it was all Ranma's fault! She was crying over him, the stupid jerk!

She had no time for this; Akane had a very busy morning. She should be worrying over her audition and over not some stupid guy back home. Wiping her eyes with the back of her fist she stood, she needed to get ready and stop thinking about Ranma, he was in her past now, damn her family for sending her that blasted invitation. She wanted to get away and forget all about him and here her family was just making her situation even worse. While grabbing her towel she headed for the shower to think on her audition instead of her family and Ranma back in Tokyo.

* * *

Akane paced back and forth in the Warner Brothers' casting department, there were four other people behind her, she was next. So nervous and she tried taking several deep breaths, but that did nothing to still her rapid beating heart, it felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. Hearing someone snicker at her she turned her head sharply towards the sound, ready to give that person a piece of her mind, a rather large piece.

Her heart nearly stopped at just who she was looking at, eyes wide in disbelief… He was tall, blonde with wisps of brown in his hair, with the most amazing intense green eyes she had ever seen, it was him, Austin James. She just about melted right there on the spot. What was he doing here at an audition? already a well established not to mention very famous actor, she remembered going to many of his movies which they had dubbed with Japanese voice actors, she often purchased the videos that had a choice between English dub and subtitles and Japanese voice actors.

She then remembered that he was the one that was snickering at her and her anger hit her again at full force, and she was really going to give him what for. Akane's eyes narrowed in bitterness. "Hey, just cause you're some big shot, doesn't give you the right to poke fun at me."

_'Whoa, she's got one fiery temper.'_ He thought to himself with a smile. "Sorry, I wasn't really laughing at you, I was sort of remembering my first auditions, how the nerves get to you and you can't breathe." He saw her face soften in understanding, Austin knew that she knew exactly what he was talking about. "And now it's a lot different for me, auditions are a breeze now, that's what I was snickering at."

Blinking, Akane nodded. "Oh…" Her mind was squealing. '_Oh great I just yelled at a huge star, way to make a good impression Akane.'_ She thought to herself and cringed slightly while turning around facing the other direction, in the back ground she heard more noise and people talking, the room was filling up with more soon to be and wannabe actors.

"You're probably thinking that they won't like you." Austin continued to say as he watched the young girl's uneasiness, he could tell she was rigid and stiff, anyone looking at her will be able to tell just how nervous she was. "Now here is a tip from someone who's been around the block a few times, go in there like you own the world, you can't show weakness, producers and casting directors can smell fear, they are like wild animals. Just waiting to rip you to shreds."

"Oh that really makes me feel a whole lot better." Akane commented snidely while looking over her shoulder at him.

Austin smiled, trying to hold back a chuckle. "I was just trying to help." He lifted his hands defensively.

Rolling her eyes, Akane groaned. "Ah yes well thank you very much for your wonderful help." She said with pure sarcasm. "I think I can do fine on my own without your help." What Akane didn't realize was that this huge famous star was actually helping her, by taking her mind off her impending audition was a good tactic. "May I ask you something?"

He nodded. "Go ahead."

"Being who you are…" Akane started easy, she didn't want to offend him anymore than she probably already had. "Why are you waiting here in the waiting room, I would think the big wigs of the movie industry would be climbing up the walls to do everything they could to secure you in one of their films."

Shrugging gently, Austin answered. "It's simple really, I just came to see who were all auditioning for this film, and my agent said that Mike Crowley was up for the same role I am too, so I came to stake out the competition. I don't see him anywhere in here though." This girl was surprisingly easy to talk to, except for the automatic anger she flared in his direction when he first decided on talking to her, hoping to ease her nerves. Perhaps he should have expected that as he started with a snicker, anyone could have taken that the wrong way. He knew exactly what it was like being in her position five years ago, being in awkward positions and letting every whisper get to him. "Say, what's your name?"

She was about to answer when the door opened and a woman holding a clipboard stepped out. "Akane Tendou." She called out pleasantly, and the girl who stood before Austin jolted a bit.

"Well that's me."

"Break a leg." He winked and he saw her take a deep breath.

Nodding a bit uncomfortably, she straightened her light blue skirt and took the steps towards the office where she would perform her scene for her audition.

* * *

Well that is it for episode 3, I hope everyone enjoyed it. Reviews are always appreciated.

Ryoko Blue


	4. Just Good Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, that's too bad though. I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit. I'll give them back, honest I will.

Summary: Life for Akane had not gone the way she hoped and a chance for a new life fell into her lap and she took it, leaving Japan all together. It is now ten years later and Akane is back in Tokyo filming a movie, will she want her old life back or will stardom come between her and what she really wants.

Thank you all so much for your reviews. Yes some things you might not be happy with at this time, but I really am a huge R/A fan, I believe that she is the only one that will be able to handle him properly, and same with him for her. So just try and stick with this story even if things make you a little uncomfortable.

* * *

It's What I Want

Episode 4—Just Good Friends

Cloudy and rainy the day was as Shampoo carried her umbrella with her on the way to her deliveries, it's a good thing it had stopped raining and she could finally close it. The dark menacing clouds looked threatening just the same.

"Shampoo!" Mousse yelled hurrying over to her, "I finished with my lunch duties, will you now go out with me?"

Taking a deep breath, Shampoo lifted her head, her nose going into the air as she carried the takeout order, "Shampoo to busy delivering food now." She did not really want to be mean, but he just could not get it through his thick skull that she did not want to go out with him.

"Aww come on Shampoo." He whined.

She ignored him and was continuing on her way, many thoughts plagued her as she walked on in silence, it had been six months since Ranma had married Ukyou, they were living at her restaurant, from what Shampoo learned over the past months was that he was still doing his martial arts training and was trying to acquire a dojo so that he could go on and teach what he knows to others who are interested in the art.

Sighing, Shampoo heard the sounds of squealing and she turned around seeing a little black piglet wearing a black and yellow bandana around its neck, pulling a large pack along the ground. She lifted a brow knowing exactly who it was, "Aiya Ryouga, you silly piggy."

Turning around the piglet recognized the voice, "Bwee!" he wanted to say 'can you just help me,' but it just came out a simple, "bwee, bwee, bweeee!" P-chan heard Shampoo suddenly break into laughter and he just sat there and humpfed rolling his eyes.

Kneeling down Shampoo got a good look at P-chan, "Mousse will take you back to Nekohanten," She grabbed the pig by his yellow scarf and lifted him up, tossing him at Mousse who caught him in his arms, grumbling.

"But Shampoo, what about our date?"

Moving her right foot forward she slammed it on the ground, irritated, "I no date you, stupid duck! Now take Ryouga to restaurant, change back to normal." She twirled on her heels and headed to where her delivery was located.

Letting out a loud long sigh, Mousse bent down and picked up Ryouga's pack and it nearly threw him off balance, "Geeze man, what have you got in this thing?"

"Bwee," P-chan answered, pointing to his iron umbrella resting in the hoops on the top.

"You think things would change once Saotome got married, but no. She still ignores me. I don't get it. I don't!" Mousse complained all the way back to the Nekohanten, and if P-chan had hands he could have covered his ears from having to listen to it. Mousse took P-chan all the way to the bathroom and dropped the huge pack and the pig on the floor. "Can you handle it from here?"

"Bwee!" P-chan jumped up onto the tub and proceeded to turn the water handles, but he couldn't do it without fingers and hands. Mousse just stood there laughing at him, causing the little piggy's ears to flatten back irritated. P-Chan's irritated snort only made Mousse laugh even harder, but the sometimes duck boy leaned over and turned on the hot water.

"There ya go piggy!" Mousse laughed harder, but since the water wasn't quite hot yet, and since P-chan was already a pig, the little pig smirked and the jumped in the tub and started kicking the cold water really fast at Mousse successfully turning the once tall, long haired martial artist into a short, white duck.

As soon as P-chan hit hot water, Ryouga shot up out of the tub. "That'll teach ya to make fun of me. Stupid duck!" As Ryouga moved to get out of the tub and started getting dressed, the duck jumped into the still hot water.

"That was not fair Ryouga." Mousse said springing up, back in human form.

After slipping his shoe on, he turned to Mousse, "Yeah well, life is not fair. Get used to it." He swung his pack partway across his shoulder and left the bathroom. He should probably leave, after all Shampoo had expressed several times that she did not need him around. But the smell of all kinds of wonderful foods flooded his senses and he decided to stay and have something to eat. So he picked a booth and sat down. A waitress came by and he ordered some bean buns and an order of Spring rolls, along with some tea.

While he was waiting for his food, he opened his pack and gathered out some writing supplies, perhaps he would write a few friends, like Anna and Akari, they would probably be happy to get a letter from him. Anna, he remembered her, she was the first girl to ever really like him, she wanted him to stay with her back in the western part of Japan. He remembered how he saved her town from a bunch of bandits, and as peaceful it was and how much that girl liked him. He couldn't stay there with her; he was still in love with Akane at the time.

And well there was Akari the sumo wrestling pig farmer, sometimes Ryouga thought that she only liked him because he turned into a pig and could beat other pigs at wrestling. He wondered if that girl would see him as anything more than just a pig. He was a man, a man!

The bells on the Nekohanten door jingled and Ryouga turned around briefly seeing Shampoo come inside, and shaking off her umbrella and putting it in the holder next to the wall. Turning back around, Ryouga set to his task of writing his friends as Shampoo brushed by stopping short seeing him. She turned around looking at him oddly.

"Shampoo did no think you still be here, what you doing? Shampoo told you that she do no need—" Shampoo was interrupted.

Ryouga rolled his eyes "Look here Shampoo, I am not here because of you, I am grateful that you let me change back here and I was on my way out, but I got hungry and decided to have something to eat." He set his pen down on the table, on the sheet of paper that had a few characters of writing on it. "Living on only instant noodle cups can get old after awhile, so I decided to have some real food." After he said his piece he picked up his pen and started scribbling his letter once more.

"Oh." Shampoo said rather uncharacteristically, her voice sounded flat deflated, with just a hint of disappointment. She hurried to the back of the restaurant, and into the kitchen, away from the customers. So he wasn't there for her, was that so? Was she disappointed that he said he wasn't here to talk to her like many times in the past six months.

She sat down in a chair and crossed her arms over her breasts; Shampoo couldn't help her thoughts from drifting back not too long ago.

_"Shampoo, who better than to talk about this with you than me?" Ryouga asked, following after her. "I know exactly how you are feeling, I mean you know how I feel about Akane and she just took up and left. Just like that."_

_She couldn't help it; she didn't want to talk to anyone about this. "Shampoo just wan be alone, Shampoo no care what you say." Shampoo stared him down, "Shampoo love Ranma to too much, much more than you want Akane."_

_"That is not true; you have no idea what I would have done for her." His eyes were narrowed in thought, "Of course it didn't help much that I couldn't even talk to her about dating without looking like a total idiot."_

_"See you no brave like Shampoo, Shampoo take what she want." She said sounding mighty proud of herself._

_"Oh yeah, then if you're so brave then why did you give up huh?" His voice sounded taunting, just a bit. "What was it, couldn't handle the competition anymore, once you realized Ranma would rather marry Ukyou someone who he thought was a boy for most of his life, rather than you."_

_Shampoo was completely stunned at how he sounded and looked, that was sure a mean thing to say! And boy did he look smug! She growled, "At least Ranma have guts to tell me to face, you can no even talk to Akane, dummy." She was getting tired of having to explain things to anyone, especially him! "Shampoo no have talk to you Ryouga, go away."_

_"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that." Ryouga glanced at the floor for a moment feeling guilty, before lifting his head and looking at her. "I just figured that since we both have a similar problem, that we could talk to each other. It'll probably help a great deal."_

_Shampoo shook her head, "Shampoo no need help!" And she turned around and ran back towards the restaurant. She wanted to deal with her heartbreak alone, why can't anyone understand that. Why!_

Of course even her stubbornness and refusal into wanting someone to talk to, Ryouga had kept coming back over and over again just to see her, and for an instant in her mind the attention was nice, even though she kept telling him to go away. And then one time he didn't show up, she had been waiting just to see if it was a trick, or was she really disappointed that he hadn't stopped in to convince her to talk. Perhaps he finally had, had enough of trying to get her to talk about Ranma to him, because he kept coming back less and less and then he never came around again. It had been at least four months straight since she had seen him last, so when she actually found the little pig pulling his pack she knew right away that it was Ryouga and he did come back.

"Shampoo." Cologne's voice carried through the kitchen alerting the blue haired Amazon warrior, her head shot up and she looked at her great grandmother. "Since you're so keen on staring at Ryouga, here, take his order to him."

Shampoo's eyes widened slightly, had she really been staring all this time! A tiny blush stained across her nose. "Shampoo was no staring." She quietly answered.

"Save it child," She tossed the plates of food to Shampoo who had caught them effortlessly.

Rolling her eyes, Shampoo left the kitchen heading towards Ryouga's table; he sure was busy scribbling on that piece of paper that he didn't seem to notice her. Not notice her? 'How can anyone ignore Shampoo!' She thought to herself, and then placed his order on the table. Holding the tray down in front of her she leaned in closer, peering over his shoulder a bit to see what he was writing, darn those Japanese characters, she couldn't read those very well even though some of them were very similar to her own Chinese characters, they were still different.

Ryouga's head suddenly rose and he looked up into her eyes, startled at her closeness that he physically jumped in his seat. "Shampoo, what is it?"

She blinked, and then straightened up "Uh, Shampoo bring order." Why was she feeling guilty for spying on what he was doing?

He briefly glanced around, feeling slightly awkward before returning his gaze to hers, "Uh, thanks." He smiled slightly uncomfortable.

"What you writing?" Shampoo hoped she didn't sound too inquisitive.

Oh now she wants to talk, all those months of trying to get her to talk to him and all he got for his efforts was insults her running away, and now all of a sudden she wants to make small chit-chat. Strange. Ryouga shrugged, "Oh, well this is just my first letter, it's to a girl I met awhile back. Her name is Anna." He reached up and scratched the back of his head, "After I'm done with this one, I'm going to write to Akari and tell her that I'll probably be around close by where she lives." He set the pen down for a moment, "She usually lets me stay with her." He did not notice Shampoo gripping the tray so hard that her knuckles were turning white as he went on and on about the other girls he knew.

Girls, he knew other girls? How…ugh! Shampoo's head was starting to hurt, and she felt as if someone had repeatedly punched her in the belly. She could not help the glare that she threw at him, "sure you be close by, that is if can find." Shampoo insulted, her voice tipped with pure annoyance and she threw her nose in the air and strutted away from him, pushing the kitchen doors open rather roughly.

He sat there absolutely confused, staring at her retreating back "What the hell is her problem?" Ryouga said to no one in particular. Wondering what he did to deserve that barb on his sense of direction. He didn't do anything to her. Groaning he ran a hand through his hair and took a bite of his food before returning to his letter.

Glaring out the opened window like area, Shampoo couldn't help it. Writing to other girls, how dare he even do that! Why was she even thinking this? What was the matter with her?

"Shampoo, it does you no good to be jealous." Cologne replied while sitting at the table slicing carrots with her fantabulous quick speed.

"What you talking 'bout great grandmother? Shampoo no jealous," although she did taste the bile of jealousy seeming to rise up in her throat, causing her to swallow hard. "What Shampoo have be jealous 'bout?"

Cologne snickered, "I am not blind child, and since Ranma is already married perhaps you should set your sights elsewhere." She was hinting towards what her great granddaughter was certainly already thinking about.

"Yes like me!" Mousse shouted happily by the stove.

Rolling her eyes, Shampoo groaned. "Shampoo no marry you, stupid duck."

Mousse's jaw dropped and his eyes seemed to fog over with despair, "What? Why, you don't have Saotome anymore. There is no one else back at the Amazon village that would accept you now because you lost and are disgraced."

"Eep!" Mousse exclaimed not really manly like at all as a butcher knife flew at his head and he ducked just in time as it imbedded itself in the wall directly behind him which very well could have been his skull.

Shampoo was glaring hard, her hand extended as she had thrown the knife, "I was no disgrace Mousse, I did no lose either. I gave up, honorably. Which you no know how to do!" It was one thing to insult her, but to insult her honor was another she was not going to stand for it.

"Shampoo…I…" Mousse was interrupted by Cologne shoving two take out boxes in his arms.

"Get to work boy, stop dawdling. You have deliveries to make." Cologne needed to send the 'blind without his glasses boy' out or else Shampoo would surely kill him. And she needed him alive to work. Mousse let out a soft sigh and took out through the back door for his deliveries, Cologne turned around. "Now child I suggest you come up with a plan or that boy is going to leave and he might not come back. He almost did not."

Shampoo rolled her eyes, "Probably cause he can no find restaurant on own. It take him weeks." Some how she knew that was not the reason; he was getting tired of trying to be a friend to her because she kept refusing. That idea did seem to depress her, what if he did decide to never come back? Shampoo looked out at Ryouga and he was folding up the letter and placing it in an envelope which joined the other white envelope on the table, his plates of food all finished off. Did she really want him to leave? What was happening to her?

She wanted him to stay! It didn't make any sense, he was the exact opposite of what Ranma was, but she did have to admit he was strong and well he was nice to look at, and she knew that he really cares about his friends, him and Ranma have been getting along since Akane left all those months ago. There was nothing to fight over anymore between the two of them. Perhaps she could give him a chance, just how could she get him to stay? An idea snuck into her head which caused her lips to curl into a devious smile. Oh yes, she had the most perfect idea.

* * *

It was the middle of November and it was warm! What was wrong with this state for it to be warm in November of all times? Akane heard from Gloria that it is usually not this warm, but it was a heat wave. Sometimes they have them and in the middle of fall and even winter. Stretching out on the couch and flipping through television channels, Akane groaned that nothing was on and shut off the television.

"Hey Akane." Cameron said from the kitchen bar area, "I was uh thinking since there's nothing to do, if you could go out on the town with me and uh Gloria tonight. We were discussing it earlier."

Gloria's brows narrowed in confusion as she turned slightly, looking at him, "We were?" Cameron's elbow then bashed her in the side and her eyes widened with the realization. "Oh, yeah, we were I mean. Yes."

Shrugging, Akane smiled. "All right, since there's nothing else to do really."

"Great!" Cameron shouted a little too excitedly, he could tell Gloria was trying hard not to laugh at his enthusiasm.

"I'll just go change and then we can leave," Akane got up from the couch and headed towards her bedroom.

Gloria slyly, out of the corner of her eye glanced at Cameron, "Why don't you just tell her?"

Putting on an innocent face, Cameron started wiping the counter with the cloth that he grabbed, to appear he was busy, "I don't know what you're talking about."

She snickered, "Oh no, that is the oldest trick in the book to get someone to go out with you."

"What! I don't want to go out with Akane." He lied, "We're just good friends." Cameron glanced down at the spot he washed at least three times now, "At least that's how she will always see it." The cloth stopped moving and he stood there staring at his slight reflection in the tile.

"You will never know unless you say something." Gloria advised, much like an older sister would, she was in fact three years older than him.

He shook his head, "I couldn't, and you see how she is. She told us about that guy back in Japan. Anyone can see she's not ready for another guy to just come along and say 'hey, you wanna be my girl'?"

"Are you kidding Cameron, it's been nine months since that guy broke her heart. Its time to move on I say, and what better way than with you, her friend." Gloria rubbed the tip of her finger on the counter tile, feeling the rough white grout. "Besides, I think you two would make an adorable couple." She saw Cameron's face flush, "I'm serious, you're both really attractive people, and you two are so nice. It's a perfect match."

Cameron shrugged, "eh, I don't know." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I think you should go for it," Blue said coming into the kitchen. He headed to the fridge and opened it, rummaging through, looking for something to eat. "We're getting tired of you just staring at her all the time, if you don't do something…" He grabbed an apple and stood upright, facing Cameron "…then I will do it for you." He bit into the delicious fruit.

"Hey, that's not fair you two, you can't force me to say anything." Cameron looked between the both of them, Gloria had that look on her face that stated, 'oh yes we can, and we will.' He groaned. "Fine, just don't say anything. I'll do it."

"Tonight." Gloria added with a smirk.

Clinching his fist… "You really want to see me suffer, don't you?" Cameron complained.

Gloria laughed, "No, not suffer. Just be happy. You can do it Cameron; I'll pick the perfect place and everything."

"Perfect place for what?" Akane's voice sounded from the archway before the kitchen, which startled her three friends, they all turned around facing her with what to her looked like guilty faces. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" They shouted all at once, and Akane's brow lifted.

"Nothing huh, sounds like something to me." They were hiding something, why? Akane would find out just what was going on.

Cameron was speechless, she looked lovely. She was wearing a green skirt with a white blouse that fit well against her curves; there was small green clip in her short blue-black hair, as well as some pink gloss on her lips. "You look nice." He flushed.

She shrugged, "Thanks, although I don't think I have anything like you guys do for going out."

"Oh its all right, you look great anyway." Gloria said with a smile, "Well lets get going, hey Blue are you comin' with us?"

Tossing his apple core into the garbage bag, he nodded, "Sure thing babe, why not. I wouldn't miss this for the world. It's all so exciting." He clapped his hands together once.

"Is it?" Akane asked, "Why's that?" hoping to get a little information out of him.

Blue moved over to Akane putting his hands on her shoulders, "Oh sweetie, it just is. It is fun going out with you three. My dear, dear friends." He reached out and put an arm around Cameron and pulled the two of them into a group hug.

"Uh… Are you all right?" Akane wondered why he was getting so emotional; she wondered if Rave broke up with him again, those two were always dating on and off. "Rave didn't break your heart again, did he?"

Blue blinked, "Yeah a little, but I'm not into Rave anymore. I like this new guy, he's a new dancer, his name is so beautiful, it's Raoul. Isn't that exotic? I love his name to death. I like how it rolls off my tongue, Raoul." He then said it slower, "Raoul."

Akane was smiling, "yeah, that's a really nice name."

"Can we just go now?" Cameron said a bit impatiently; soon everyone was following him towards the door.

They were going to a new restaurant called Amazon, which Gloria took them to. It was valet parking, the attendants took charge of Gloria's car as the four of them headed up the stone steps towards the entrance of the restaurant where there were a few people waiting. They could see them through the glass, in fact the whole building was made of glass, but except for the entrance there were large green leaves and trees that one would normally see in a rainforest shielding guests from views of the outside world.

Akane and her friends were walking through the glass double doors; there was a large waterfall which was made out of what looked like red and brown volcano rock, the water rushed down into a pool that had pretty stones in the base. Akane gasped and looked around, this place, it was so breathtaking. "This place looks really expensive."

Gloria smiled, "Don't worry about it Akane, the owner owes me a favor." She winked.

Akane glanced around at all the different kinds tropical flowers from different parts of the world, there were even butterflies dancing around in the air. Everything was really pretty.

Blue nudged Cameron and leaned closer to his friend's ear, "She looks impressed, that's a good sign."

Nodding, Cameron was hoping that he could have the guts to say what he was feeling, "yeah I just hope I can get everything out that I want to say."

They were sat almost immediately, the waiter pulled out the chair for Akane, she saw him wink in her direction, was he flirting with her? Clearing her throat, Akane turned to the three who seemed even more suspicious than before. "So what's the special occasion?"

"Why you are." Gloria said, "You have been doing so well since you arrived Akane, that we figured it was good to celebrate."

"If you say so," Akane sighed and looked around a bit more, one of the green and blue butterflies landed on her head, causing Cameron to smile, it looked really cute atop her head. Akane then opened her menu and began scanning it.

Cameron felt nervous, but he supposed he better get this over with, so he can either be rejected or not. He cleared his throat, signaling that he was going to speak, everyone at the table looked at him and his face flushed. "Akane, you and I are friends, right?"

She looked up at him with a smile and nodded, "I'd like to think so."

"I know you haven't been here long and all…but…" His face was growing redder by the second, he couldn't help it. "And well…I… man this is tough." He saw Blue and Gloria leaning closer over to table to hear what he was saying. He blinked and well he didn't want to say anything in front of these two. It was embarrassing enough as it is, both those idiots had that look on their faces, Gloria was almost grinning as was Blue. Cameron suddenly jumped up, the bottoms of his chair scraping the slate floor loudly, creating a ruckus. Patrons at other tables looked his way. "Akane, uh, can we speak in you know, private?"

Akane looked around at the guests looking at them, and her friends too. "Uh, I guess so." Setting the menu down, she got up out of her chair.

Cameron looked around and spotted several doors that led out onto the balcony, so he ushered her through them. They approached the stone railing; the bright lights of the city gave a very romantic feel to the air around them.

Noticing that he was fidgeting with his fingers, Akane lifted her hand and placed it on her hands. "Is everything all right?"

He nodded, "Well I guess I better get this over with" he mumbled more to himself. "Akane, I…uh…I well." He saw her leaning forward a bit trying to listen more intently to what he was saying. He was making a fool out of himself, so Cameron took a deep breath and then said, "Akane, I like you." He thought he saw her eyes widen, "I like you more than a friend should like a friend. I don't really expect you to think of me in the same way, but I just had to tell you." 'Before our idiot friends did.' He added silently in his head.

Akane stood there, shocked; she did not really know what to say…

* * *

"So how long are you going to be in town?" Ukyou asked Ryouga who was sitting on a stool at the bar next to Ukyou's grill, while patiently waiting for Ranma to return from his errands.

Ryouga shrugged, "Not long actually, well that's not true. I need to talk to Ranma first before I decide anything."

"Not planning on running off with my husband now are you Ryouga?" She held the spatula out at him threateningly, but there was humor in her eyes when Ryouga made a face.

"Oh please, not if my life depended on it." He crossed his arms over his chest, "So how are you two doing?"

Ukyou shrugged, "Well its been all right, I mean we're still getting used to the idea of being married." Some things about their new life together would not come to light in front of Ryouga; it seemed they were already having little problems. But Ukyou just chucked it off as marriage jitters, it's almost like he was afraid to touch her, like a man should touch a woman, especially if they are married and newlyweds.

Just then the door to Ucc-Chan's Okonomiyaki opened and Ranma came in through the door. He took note of the customers and then Ukyou who looked like she was making a pizza for a customer while talking with Ryouga. Ryouga! It's been a few months since he'd seen that guy. "Well I see you finally made it back here."

"I was off seeing the world, what can I say?" Ryouga shrugged, "Ranma, I came here specifically to talk to you." He jumped off the stool, throwing his pack on his back.

"Me? Why?" Ranma shed his coat and hung it up on in the closet with Ukyou's.

Ukyou sighed with disappointment, he didn't even greet her like she had seen other couples greet each other, not even a 'hello, how are you doing?' This is just a phase, she knew it. They were still new at this whole thing; the best thing to do was learn as they went along. Every couple was indeed different, but for some reason, Ukyou had the feeling that Ranma really wasn't putting everything into this marriage, not like she is. Hearing Ranma's 'you know that's a great idea.' Brought her attention back to what was going on around her.

"It should be a success, instead of us fighting all the time if we teamed up for this." Ranma said walking Ryouga to the door, "When are you going to be back in town."

Ryouga shrugged, "Who really knows, I'm trying for a month. I wrote to Akari saying I would probably be in her area soon; I can go make some money there. 'Sumo pig wrestling' in his mind Ryouga shuddered, he really hated doing that, but he won lots of prize money and Akari did give most of it to him. Pushing the door open Ryouga stepped outside, "So I'll see you when I get back, if I manage to find my way back."

Ranma shrugged, "yeah, whatever." He was grinning, at least the guy was taking his no sense of direction with a little more humor these days, and the idea of it really was very funny.

Ryouga was about to leave when a weapon flew at him, he dodged it just in time to see it smash into the wall behind him, "What the…" He and Ranma walked over to the weapon that was sticking out of the wall, Ryouga's eyes narrowed in concentration, the weapon looked a lot like Shampoo's bon bori, but… he didn't get to finish his internal thoughts when he heard Shampoo's "Aiya."

She was standing on the wall in front of them, one hand on her hip and in her other hand the other bon bori, "I find you, Ryouga."

"Hey! Did you throw that at me?" He lifted his fist into the air while glaring at her.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, "Shampoo did."

"What, why?"

"Enough stupid talking, you fight Shampoo." She jumped off the wall and started to attack Ryouga, but he was avoiding her swings. Shampoo flipped backwards towards the wall which still held her weapon and grabbed it, pulling it from the stone.

"Geeze Ryouga, what did you do to Shampoo?" Ranma asked a little confused as to why Shampoo would be attacking him. The reason why, had been forgotten by both boys, if only they had thought back to Shampoo's first entrance into their lives, they would know why.

"Nothing!" He screamed while trying to avoid her swings.

Why wasn't he fighting back? Shampoo wondered. He was just avoiding it. She needed to make him fight her, or else her plan would not work. "Stay still, Shampoo no hurt too much." She swung again, quicker than before.

Ryouga had to get out of there; he didn't want to stay around as she was attacking him, why was she attacking him? He didn't do anything to her. Was she possessed or something? He was running quickly away but Shampoo was hot on his trail. "What the hell is going on!" He cursed as he was running away from a violent Shampoo. Leaving a puzzled Ranma back in the alleyway scratching the back of his head cluelessly.

* * *

Well that's it for this episode 4, and yes people Anna is a real character, for one episode in Ranma ½ it was sort of an old west type episode. Those of you who watched the entire series will know who I am talking about. :)

Thank you all for reading, until next time readers.

Ryoko Blue


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